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| We went to sleep in Alamogordo, New Mexico but seem to have woken in the Artic !!!! |
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| The photos of this amazing area cannot at all do it justice but I have tried !!! This is our first visit to White Sands National Monument which has been an area we have been meaning to visit for some years and oh boy we are so glad that we eventually got here..... The sand is so white it looks like snow and the road is cleared with ploughs the same as snow....although we know it is not snow you have a feeing that it will be slippery... |
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| We are at 4,300 ft elevation but temps are in the high 70's which pleases our truck, he does not like cold !!!! Much like Yorkieman !!! |
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| Covering 275 square miles in the Tularosa Basin and surrounded by The San Andres and Sacramento Mountain Ranges it's the largest gypsum dune field in the world... |
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| Formed from gypsum particles....the wind is constantly shifting and settling the dunes.... |
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| The are no restrictions on walking on the dunes and in fact much of it is very firm but very fine and doesn't stick to you as does sand at the beach... |
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| This is one of the picnic areas.... The space and picnic shelters gave it an off world look and feel...incredible... |
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| In the background is The San Andres Mountain range....no connection at all to the fault in California.... |
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| Above us a skein of American White Pelicans..... |
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| An attempt at an "arty"photo... |
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| There's life in the old dogs yet !!!! Time for some great fun.... |
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| Sledding is allowed on any of the dunes, just turn up with a sled "disc" and have a fun time.... |
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| It's quite a quiet time of year but the area is so huge that even during busy times it would be easy to find your "own hill" |
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| We had such a blast, great fun and great exercise walking back to the top !!! I have posted videos on my Facebook page still can't get them to load to the blog... |
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| As well as playing we did also do a couple of informative nature walks... This yucca plant survives the shifting sands by throwing out tall seed pods...quite often the roots and base of the plant are many feet under the sand... |
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| An amazing amount of plants survive the shifting sands and extreme summer heat.... Compared to other dune types, Gypsum dunes remain moist during periods of drought, the moisture preventing the sand from just blowing away.... There is in fact water a couple of feet below the surface... We have had a fabulous day, this area is on our top ten places to visit list.... We plan to return as we are staying for a week in Alamogordo.... But for now it's back home for Yorkieman's Greek style BBQ pork chops... Until the next post.. Cheers from The Sandy Campers.... |
Hi Sue & Michael,
ReplyDeleteWow what an amazing sight ,looks exactly like you have been snowned in .Good to see that you are still have the energy to enjoy yourselves sledding. (I think the climb back to the top would have seen me off)
Hope the pork chops were good, not very good BBQ weather here , turned cold with further drops in temperature forecast for the weekend.
Cheers,
Ann & Dave
Hi Ann and Dave...
ReplyDeleteEven after 3 visits we found it hard to believe it is not snow !!! We just loved the area and great exercise...
Yummy pork chops and so great to still be BBQing..
Keep warm...
M and S x
Fascinating - never heard of that area. You say gypsum so is it "mined" and used? Very envious to see you in shirtsleeves, its gone much colder here. As for bbq's - didn't even have one in the Summer. Carry on informing and educating us numbskulls!! A&M x
ReplyDeleteHi A and M..the dunes are now protected as back in the day of the early settlers the sand was considered a way of making a quick buck...
ReplyDeleteWe are now into the high 80's in temp and soaking up as much as possible before returning to a cold Blighty !!
Keep warm... M & S x