Because we weren't sure what was going on with our car, we cut off about an hour of our trip where we would have driven in Lincoln National Forest and gone to see a petroglyph site. But since it was along the way to Las Cruces and we really wanted to see it, we decided to take the time to stop at White Sands National Monument.
The landscape of New Mexico is desert. It's rocky, sandy soil with low shrubs and maybe a few short trees. And then, in the middle of the desert, there is this massive deposit of gypsum sand. What happens (I hope I get this right!) is that when it rains, the water becomes infused with gypsum as it runs off the mountains and soil. Then the water is collected into a nearby lake, and when the lake evaporates (since it is the desert), gypsum crystals form. Then, as the wind blows, the gypsum crystals break apart and become fine sand, almost as fine as baby powder. Because of the wind and weather patterns, all that sand ends up here in massive dunes.
The dunes are ever-changing because the wind is continuously blowing, shaping the dunes. The road into the dunes is basically snowplowed.
If you get off the path and hike over a couple dunes, it's just white sand as far as you can see in every direction. It is incredibly quiet, except for the gusts of wind. The sand is so fine and the wind so consistent that your footprints are nearly covered fifteen minutes after you make them, so everything looks perfectly pristine. The sand is almost the consistency of baby powder, so soft and dry.
People sled down the sand dunes with waxed disc sleds. Climbing up the hill was hard work and the sun was scorching hot, so we didn't sled for too long, but it was fun!
Because the dunes are continually moving, the plants must continually adapt. This plant keeps growing up taller and taller as the dune covers its base, but when the dune moves on and the plant is in a low spot, the plant can't support itself and it falls over and dies.
This plant adapts to the changing dunes by using its roots and its water supply to build a column of sand up under it so that when the dune moves, the plant still has support.
This was so incredible. Like the caverns, our pictures can't even begin to capture it. But, we do have some video of us sledding down the dunes!
The rest of our day was spent in Las Cruces getting our car fixed. We drove a couple hours down the road and stayed in Lordsburg, NM, a couple hours before our intended destination of Tucson, so that we could get some rest and not be driving so late in case something else went wrong with the car. It was so nice to get in early and be able to relax before bedtime. Driving out from Las Cruces we saw beautiful mountains and a really nice sunset though.
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