The Land of Shifting Snow-Sand

Thursday, 10 March 2016
Fort Bliss RV Park — El Paso, Texas
Temps: Hi 73F (23C) / Lo 38F (3C)

A single-topic post today … with all the photos I want to share, I am having trouble with the weekly summary style posts I intended to do on this trip ;-)

Besides, we were off exploring in another state.  I know, I know … a bald-faced excuse to write about what we did today in a standalone post.

Is that snow?  Well, it was almost cold enough overnight that it definitely could have been snow!

Last Sunday was to have been a relocation day for us.  We were going to move from the RV park at Fort Bliss to the one at Holloman AFB near Alamogordo, New Mexico.  But the high winds warning that extended our stay in El Paso, also changed those plans and we scrapped the move, not just delayed it.

We wished to at least get to White Sands National Monument (WSNM) while we were still in the area, however … it has been on our must-see list for a while now.  A day-trip to the land of shifting snow-sand would have to suffice.  Hence we were on the road at 6:00a this morning to make our wish come true … egg sandwiches for breakfast in the car to save ourselves some time.

Where are the dunes I came to see?  This looks more like any old road plowed clear of snow!

The visitor center was still locked up tight when we showed up at the park’s entrance.  Anticipating this eventuality, we had picked up a WSNM brochure from the El Paso Visitor Center, so we had a map.  We also had a national park pass already, so we were good to start the 8-mile (13 km) Dunes Drive without delay.

OK — I’ll fess up … the first half of the drive was a bit disappointing.  Signs said no stopping … safety corridor apparently.  A couple of the shorter trails off this road were blocked off with orange cones and signs indicating that we were not welcome there … trail restoration, we later learned.  And the biggie … where were the giant dunes I had been so looking forward to … they were nowhere to be seen!!!

windswept ridges in an interdune area … they are rock solid.

Patience, patience … and it paid off.  Further down the road we found the magical white-dunes landscape I’d been picturing in my mind … although I hadn’t quite considered how many footprints would be marring the pristine surfaces of said dunes.  No matter, we just added some of our own to the mix, knowing they would be swept clear by the winds that shape and reshape this landscape.

An undulating landscape shaped by winds.

To the footprints that came before us, we add our own.

I’m not going to delve into how the gypsum sand that forms the dunes came about, except to say the source is selenite crystals, and that water evaporation and winds play an important role in its creation.  Water has another role in fashioning the WSNP landscape — a shallow water table acts like a glue that holds the dunes together.  If you want more than that, the internet is your friend.

Left: the Direction of water flow.  You can see how the water (white) sinks into the
ground and resurfaces at Lake Lucero (blue), one of the largest in New Mexico.

Right: Wind Direction.  Can you guess where the fastest moving dunes are found?  Prevailing southwest winds (white) push the exposed and newly formed dome dunes (blue) 24-38 feet per year.  The parabolic dunes (yellow), anchored in place by plants, creep along at 0-8 feet per year.

With all the white sand reflecting the powerful rays of the sun, it should come as no surprise that temperatures at WSNM can rise quite high.  Everywhere we went, there were warnings to that effect.  But we didn’t have to worry about that today.  In fact, when the wind was blowing, it was downright chilly and we were grateful to be wearing light layers and windbreakers.  I was quite surprised at how cool the sand was to the touch — and I mean it literally, but I suppose the figurative works as well.  Not sure if the sand grows hot in the summer, but ours was a “cool experience” today.

That’s not haze veiling the San Andres Mountains, it’s sand particles being blown about.

Our main activity today was hiking the Alkali Flat Trail … a term that I use loosely as there is no real path to follow, just some orange sticks to keep your eye on as you explore this world of brilliant whiteness.

Can you find the orange trail marker that we’re supposed to keep an eye out for so we don’t get lost in the dunes?  Yeah, that’s exactly what they look like until you come right up to them!

We intended to do the full 7 mile (11 km) loop, but ended up doing maybe half of it as an in-and-out instead.  It wasn’t the difficulty rating of the trail that brought us up short — even though it is admittedly not easy to scale tall dunes made up of soft sand that shifts every which way with each step you take until you reach the crest.  Rather, it was the winds that picked up about an hour into the hike that put paid to our plans.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed getting out beyond the oft-trampled dunes to see the pristine ones of my imagination.  The only person we saw on the trail was quite a distance ahead of us, and as he climbed up and over a dune, we quickly lost sight of him.

Heading out into the wondrous wild white yonder!

See that black dot, that’s the only other hiker out on Alkali Flats Trail when we set out.

Just like mounds of untouched whipped cream!

Solitude and happiness!

Undulating lines that are ever-changing!

Buried in the sand … and the first indication the wind is picking up.

Clouds of sand billow into the air to create a misty morning feel.

Can’t fight the wind … we need to turn back.  But first …

… one last photo … or is this a two-fer since I am photographing the dunes and
Mui is photographing me in action, while putting himself into the moment as well?

Left: Looking back to make sure we Leave nothing but footprints behind.
Right: Stopping to play and make memories to take with us.

As we slogged our way closer to the trailhead, we noticed an increasing number of people heading into the dunes.  The parking lot was full when we got back to the car, with most of the people tobogganing on the perimeter dunes.  Sure am glad we had the trail to ourselves.  Now it was time to have lunch.  We snagged a picnic shelter, but with the wind blowing it was downright cold enough for me to grab a fleece jacket from the car.  When that proved insufficient, I stepped out to wander around in the sun while munching on my sandwich.  Needless to say, lunch was a quick affair.

Panoramic shot of the Yucca Picnic Area.

We dallied on the drive back towards the visitor center.  I wanted to capture the iconic yucca in the dunes shot, so we stopped often for me to wander off into the nearby dunes in search of that one perfect shot.  Didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but I came away satisfied with the shots I did get.

Just some of the yuccas and other plants that serve to anchor the dunes.

Our last stop in the park was the Interdune Boardwalk — a short metal walkway with signage on either side identifying some of the plants and critters that have to adapt in unique ways in order to survive at WSNM.  There were sign holders at the end of the boardwalk, but they were empty … new and awaiting information panels to be inserted … or old with the panels removed … I know not the answer, but hope it’s the former rather than the latter.

The Interdune Boardwalk	Keep this yucca in mind as you read below …

How tall do you think that yucca is? To adapt to the changing landscape, the soaptree yucca has to be able to grow rapidly.  They first take root in the interdunal soil.  As a dune edges up and over the yucca, it elongates its stem to keep its leaves above the sand for photosynthesis.  What looks like a 4- to 6-foot tall yucca growing on top of a dune is really much taller with a long stem connecting to roots in the interdunal soil.  The photo to the left shows a cutaway of this. Quite amazing plants, aren’t they? Next time you see a yucca atop a dune think about just how tall it might really be.

The WSNM visitor center was crowded when we stopped by before heading back to El Paso.  Still, we went in because we wanted to see the ½-hour documentary about the dunes.  Turns out a couple was promoting a coffee-table book compilation of images taken by George Grant, the first chief photographer of the National Park Service.  So the screening was delayed.  I browsed through the informative exhibits to kill time, and still the presenters droned on.  Granted, the B&W images were beautiful, and I might not have minded the self-promotion so much as I sat through the last 10 minutes of their presentation … except that by hooking up their personal equipment to the projection system, they messed up the settings.  And none of the rangers were able to figure out how to fix it again ... no documentary video, alas.  Sigh!

Inspired by George Grant … a B&W image to wrap up this post.

“You are here — on the edge of a world of white sand.  Serene, stark, vast — unique.”  These were the words on the signage at the visitor center for White Sands National Monument … a place that encapsulates the largest gypsum dune field in the world … a place where wave after wave of undulating and shifting dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles (712 square kilometers) of desert landscape for over 10,000 years.  Dome, barchan, transverse, parabolic … who knew there were so many different types of dunes?  I didn’t, but they exist at WSNM … ours for the finding … and find some of them we did.  What a fantastic day!

[Yes, plenty of photos here, but if you want to see more they are in my online gallery.]

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