White Sands

Our younger daughter had been worried all along about her 10th birthday – wondering where we would be and how we would celebrate.  I can’t say as a I blame her.  I remember well the months of planning that went into my “double digit” birthday; turning 10 really is a big deal.  But we really couldn’t make plans in advance as we simply didn’t know how long it would take us to get places.  By this time it was clear we would be in New Mexico for her birthday and we decided that spending the day at White Sands National Monument would be a very special birthday indeed.

 

Rest Area between Artesia and Alamagordo

The drive from Carlsbad to Alamagordo took us through miles and miles of desolate desert scrub and then up into a high elevation pine forest dotted with little ranches and even orchards along a small but lively river.   As you come into the basin which is home to the city of Alamagordo, Holloman Airforce Base, and White Sands National Monument, you drop down from pine forest at the top through a very steep canyon and onto a totally flat basin rimmed on both sides by high cliffs.   We had originally planned on camping on Holloman Airforce Base but having read a rather dour description of the campsites there, opted for a state park, Oliver Lee Memorial State Park in Dog Canyon.  This was farther away from White Sands but it was a lovely place to camp, very affordable with amazing views, it was worth the extra driving.  Once again, we found state park camping to be a worthwhile experience.

 

Our Campsite in Dog Canyon

 

The dog in Dog Canyon

Just as we did in the Smokies, we hit the wild flower peak here in New Mexico.  The desert was covered with flowers, the trees, shrubs, and cacti were all in full flower, Prickly Pear Cactus, Ocotillo, Mesquite, Creosote, Soaptree Yucca (State Flower of New Mexico), and many, many more.  When I was a geology undergraduate, I learned to love the beauty of the desert and I had never seen it more beautiful than now.  Yet the desert is menacing, with water so scarce, plants and animals have to defend themselves so there are many hazards facing both man and dog.  Just walking to a campground bathroom, one is always on the lookout for snakes.  We saw one little snake dart out right at the bathroom door, a harmless racer but still your heart beats a bit faster as you clutch your toothbrush and your child’s hand and watch a snake slither away and into her hole in the ground.

Once we were camped, we headed to White Sands National Monument.  You might be wondering, what the difference between a national park and a national monument is.  This is something we learned upon arriving at White Sands.  It is actually very simple, a President can declare a national monument by executive order, the full Congress has to vote on a national park.  Some parks, such as Zion, are declared monuments first and then later Congress has given them full national park status.  What we are not sure of is what the differences are in terms of funding etc.  We did notice that the national monuments such as White Sands rely heavily on volunteer rangers and have very few paid rangers.  The Visitors’ Center at White Sands is a gorgeous Adobe style building built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  The CCC was established during the depression for young men who were out of work.  The idea is that these young men would be fed and kept off the streets and even learn a trade and in return the country would get public works projects, schools, dams, roads, campsites, picnic areas, hiking trails etc.  The beautiful work of the CCC is evident at nearly every park and monument we have visited in the west.  I hope the current economic stimulus will invest in projects of similar value and beauty of those undertaken by the CCC.

White Sands National Monument Visitors' Center

We picked up the Junior Ranger booklets for the children at the visitor’s center and bought sleds and wax for the dune sledding the next day (THE birthday).  We also learned to our delight that our dog was welcome anywhere in the park.  Further, we saw that there was a sunset walk on the dunes with a ranger scheduled for later that evening.  What fun!

We had a couple of hours to kill before the sunset talk so we stopped by Holloman Airforce Base to buy sandwiches for dinner and other groceries.  Holloman is a joint American and German base and so both flags fly together at the base entrance.  In the commissary there was more than the usual amount of German food to select from as well as German pilots and families shopping there.  I can’t quite imagine what it must be like for a German family to move from temperate and lush Germany to the harsh environment of the southern New Mexico desert but they seem to adapt quite well.  Germans are very adventurous people, everywhere I’ve ever camped or backpacked in the world, including the American West, most of the other hikers are German.

We munched down our sandwiches on our way back to the park.  It was very hot so I had also bought a box of six strawberry popsicles for a treat.  Problem, there are only 5 of us and 6 popsicles in the box – what to do?  In one of my zany “let’s see if I can embarrass my kids and husband with my outgoing nature” moments, I offered our extra popsicle to the ranger at the entrance gate and was tickled that she accepted it.  She seemed equally tickled to be offered a popsicle!

We found the parking for the talk and saw that there were a number of families and couples there already as well as several other dogs. Biggie, our collie, must not have liked the look of the ranger’s hat or something because he had to be dragged out of the car and refused to walk up to the group so my poor enduring husband had to lag about 20 feet back the entire evening with the dog always trying to head him back to the car.  There was also one charming and very well dressed Italian family with a baby and a toddler who alternatively let the baby scream and scolded, smacked, and yanked on the toddler around the entire time.

Despite these drawbacks, the talk was informative and interesting and the scenery spectacular.  The white sands are just what the name suggests, sparkling white dunes consisting of pure gypsum sand.  The wide, flat basin is flanked on both sides by mountains.  As the mountain rocks are weathered and eroded, the mineral Gypsum is dissolved in rain and runoff water which then collects in low lying areas of the basin to form a temporary lake (otherwise known as a dry lake or playa)  The area is so dry that this water soon evaporates and leaves behind it mineral crystals, these relatively soft mineral and soon the desert winds start to break off little pieces of it and these blow around and around until they collect and form dunes.  The conditions that create these dunes are rare and the White Sands National Monument are the biggest gypsum sand dunes in the world.

A Strange and Beautiful Landscape

 

Soaptree YuccaFragrant Rosemary-Mint

More Soaptree Yucca

Only two plants are adapted well enough to survive the shifting sands, the Soaptree Yucca and Rosemary Mint (other plants in the dune environment are generally killed as the dunes advance).  Both plants were useful to the Native People of the area.  The seeds and roots of the Soaptree Yucca were an important food source (reportedly tasting a bit like baked potato).  The Rosemary Mint was a seasoning, a tea and medicinal herb.  In addition, the Squawberry Sumac plant (used to make ersatz lemonade) creates pedestals which are home to most of the birds and animals who live in the dunes, snakes, lizards, kangaroo rats and the tiny kit foxes.  The tops of Cottonwood trees poke out from the dunes with the bulk of the tree living under the sand.  When the dune moves on, the tree is left exposed.

Sumac pedestal is a great place to call homeCommuning with the Cottonwood Tree

 

 

A "Stinkbug" makes tiny, exquisite tracksA Reluctant Participant

The next morning was the day of the long awaited birthday.  We left Dog Canyon bright and early as we wanted to get the most out of the park before the heat.  The air was pleasantly cool when we arrived and the sand was cold and crisp.  We kept having to remind ourselves that this was sand and not snow as we drove around deciding where to sled.  We literally had the whole place to ourselves, we didn’t see another soul for two hours.  Sledding was great fun and enjoyed by all with the possible exception of the dog who did not quite know what to make of it.  When we had had enough (climbing dunes is hard work!) and were packing up, a few others were starting to arrive.  We did a short nature hike on our way back to the Visitors’ Center and then we sat out at the shaded picnic tables while the children finished their Junior Ranger assignments.  I sold our used sleds back to the gift shop and had a second chance to do some shopping in the fabulous gift shop.  It is lucky that we don’t have any room in the trailer as there were many beautiful pieces of Native and local art I would have loves to buy in that shop.  One tiny vase particularly caught my fancy but with a price tag of $345, it was out of my reach.  I contented myself with a couple of ornaments for friends and older daughter splurged on a little wooden box with a carved horse on it for her sister’s birthday.

 

Sled Races

 

One, two, three, go!

 

Today she is 10!

Tired and happy, we retreated from the now blistering heat back to the campsite and have a little birthday celebration.  Younger daughter opened her presents and was very pleased with them.  We made home made ice cream with one of those ice cream balls they sell in the L.L. Bean catalog for camping.  For dinner we drove into Alamogordo for some good, cheap, authentic Mexican food at a place recommended to me by the woman who worked at the White Sands gift shop.  The meal was great and the staff even sang and brought out a complimentary slice of cheesecake.  Back at the campground with the sky dark and full of stars, I told the Native legend of “Coyote and the Star Pictures” to the two girls (our son having fallen asleep in the car).  A lovely end to a special birthday, one I hope my daughter will remember all her life.

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