Spring Training Trip - Day 67

Pat was feeling much better this morning as the antibiotic treating his sinus infection kicked-in.  So, we decided to carry on with our plan to visit White Sands National Monument.  We left the RV Park about 9:30 am and travelled to the National Monument visitor’s center about 50 miles NE of Las Cruces.  The road ascends out of the Masilla Basin where Las Cruces is located and crosses a 5700 ft mountain summit before descending again through the White Sands Missile Range to the National Monument which is co-located in and adjacent to the Missile Range.

The National Monument includes 275 miles of white sand dunes and is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.  The dunes lie in a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin, in the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert and are truly one of the world’s natural wonders.

The dunes were formed in a unique geological process that began millions of years ago and continues today.  The gypsum that forms the white sand was deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea that covered the area 250 million years ago.  Eventually turning to stone, the gypsum-bearing marine deposits were uplifted into a giant dome 70 million years ago when the Rocky Mountains were formed.  Ten Million years ago the dome started to collapse, creating the Tularosa Basin.  The remaining sides of the original dome form the San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges that now ring the Tularosa Basin.

The common mineral gypsum is rarely found as sand because it is soluble in water.  Rain and snow in the surrounding mountains dissolve gypsum from the mountain rocks and carry into the Tularosa Basin.  Since the basin has no outlet to the sea, the water with its dissolved gypsum is trapped in the basin. In wet periods, water evaporating on the basin floor (playa) causes the gypsum to be deposited in crystalline form as selenite.  The crystals often measure 3 ft or more and are spread across ancient lake beds in the basin.  Freezing and thawing and wetting and drying eventually break down the crystals as sand-size particles light enough to be moved by the wind.  Strong winds blowing across the playa pick up the gypsum particles and then carry them downwind.  The sand grains then accumulate as dunes that build and shift as the wind moves them along.

In the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, a few plants and animals have adapted to the desert conditions and struggle to survive.  Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to avoid burial by the rapidly shifting dunes. Several types of small animals have also evolved white colorations to camouflage themselves in the gypsum sand.

The visitor’s center is very well done and contains a number of interesting exhibits and an excellent film explaining the history and geology of the white sands and the surrounding area.  We also took the eight mile “dune drive” and a one mile hike through the dunes along a nature trail.  There are numerous picnic areas along the drive as well as an amphitheater for ranger programs that are held frequently.  Additional hiking trails of various degrees of difficulty are also accessible from the drive.  A highlight of the area for visitors is the opportunity to sled down the dunes in saucer-like sleds.  Since the sand is so fine, it is almost like sledding on snow.  In fact, you can buy or rent the sleds at the visitor’s center.

After returning to Las Cruces in mid afternoon, we had a late lunch at another Mexican restaurant, did a little grocery shopping for the rest of the trip and came back to the RV.  After one more load of laundry to get us home, we had dinner in the RV and plan to go to bed early.

All the fun stuff for the trip is now over; we have three long days of driving to get home.  It is Phoenix tomorrow, Edwards AFB on Wednesday, and home on Thursday.

Day 67 Pictures