White Sands and White's City

White Sands national monument between Las Cruces and Alamogordo New Mexico is a surreal place. 275 square miles of very white Gypsum Sand Dunes. Not as tall as the dunes in Death Valley but very white and relatively easy to walk on. The gypsum seems to stick together better than silica sand. We spent an afternoon wandering the dunes and trying to find places out of the wind where we could connect in with the very peaceful and kind energy of this place. A little odd considering it is in the middle of the Army’s main missile range and just south of the site of the world’s first atomic test blast.

White’s City is the small enclave just outside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The cavern is not as “alive” as Kartchner Caverns (not as much actively dripping water), but it is very impressive and huge. You can walk around a lot of it by yourself on an extensive trail. You can even hike down a mile long trail through the natural entrance to the cave rather than take the 750’ deep elevator ride. Kartchner was warm and very humid, Carlsbad is cool and moist. The rooms are so large in Carlsbad Caverns that it is hard to remember you are so deep under the ground.

We also visited Guadalupe National Park just over the Texas Stateline. The Guadalupe Mountains Rise 3-4,000 feet above the desert floor (already at 5,000) and create woodland ecosystems along its canyons that you would not expect to see in the desert like Madrone and Maple trees. We had a wonderful hike up McKittrick Canyon to a homestead that was built totally of stone, even the roof, in the 1930s.

The Torrey yuccas are blooming along the highway and up the canyon to Carlsbad. Giant white flower heads sway in the breeze, reminding us of the Joshua Tree blossoms. They are a wonderful sight.