White Sands National Monument

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White Sands National Monument

The White Sands National Monument was one of the most highly-anticipated places to visit in New Mexico during our journey. We knew there was a lot of history behind those dunes, but we have to be honest and admit that we really just wanted to play in the sand.

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The place is fascinating, but we had to be careful in planning our visit. During the day temperatures can be extremely high and we wanted to avoid turning our visit into a drama.

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A bit about White Sands National Monument

When the Permian Sea retreated millions of years ago, it left behind deep layers of gypsum. Mountains rose and carried the gypsum high. Later, water from melting glaciers dissolved the mineral and returned it to the basin. Today, rain and snow continue the process at White Sands National Monument.

For thousands of years, wind and sun have separated the water from the gypsum and formed selenite crystals. Wind and water break down the crystals, making them smaller and smaller until they are sand. Then, the strong winds keep the gypsum sand moving, piling it up and pushing it into dunes of various shapes and sizes.

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A few inches beneath the sand there’s water that keeps the dunes moist during long droughts. This moisture prevents the dunes from blowing away and helps some of the vegetation to grow.

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Our visit to the White Sands National Monument

We left the city of Tombstone in the afternoon and drove towards Alamogordo, a village situated just a few miles away from the monument. This was also a great place for Noah to play in the sand a bit. He fared better than the toy cars, which were full of sand by the time he finished (Sorry Tiago, Manuela and kids … we’ll see if we can replace them 🙂 ).

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Our timing couldn´t have been better as we were there at almost 7 o´clock when the sun was going down, meaning we benefitted from a shy but rewarding breeze. But what we were about to see was unexpected. The skies to the west and north were covered in rainclouds, but there was a layer of clear horizon just perfect enough to see a beautiful sunset.

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At one moment we could barely see the sun, and then a ray of light drew an amazing view across the horizon. It was just beautiful.

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The cherry on top was the thunder that gave us some unique scenery. We tried to document everything, and we hope that the pictures below do it justice.

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When the sun had completely set, we left the park and started searching for a restaurant for dinner and a hotel where we could spend the night.

The next morning we arrived at White Sands National Monument early, but it seemed like that same morning there were some missile tests going on inside the park. That occurs about twice a week but doesn’t last too long, so at about 10:30 the doors to the park opened again for visitors.

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We thought we would only spend an hour or two there, but it turned out that we left four hours later. We even rented a sand board so we could play a little bit in the dunes, and Noah was the one who enjoyed it the most. Nevertheless it was not the best time to be in the park because it was very hot and the sun’s reflection in the sand made things even worse. Nothing serious happened, but of course that was our cue to leave.

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Some recommendations for the visit

We normally describe our experience, but we felt that we needed to emphasize some recommendations that you find once you enter the White Sands National Monument.

  • Never leave the sign-posted trails if you decide to hike, as it is really easy to get lost in the middle of the desert and you would definitely never find your footprints to be able to retrace your steps.

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  • Don´t trust GPS navigation … It sometimes gets confused.

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  • Always take plenty of water with you, even if you are not far from your car. You can get tired and thirsty very easily.

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  • Bring sunglasses and a cover for your head, especially for kids. The reflection of the sun in the sand can really affect your eyesight, and a hat or something might help avoid your head burning in those extreme temperatures.

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  • Try to come in the early morning or late afternoon (the best option in our opinion) to avoid the strong heat in the middle of the day.

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  • Finally, don’t forget to bring a sand board for playing in the dunes at The White Sands National Monument. Alternatively you can purchase a used one for about $10 or a new one for about $15 and return it later (if you don’t want to keep it). The park will refund you a small amount (when we visited it was $3 for a used board and $5 for a new board).

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Next stop, Three Rivers Petroglyph National Site!

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