A wind-swept landscape of snow white gypsum crystals piled up in dunes edged by dark mountains in the distance. A family playground in a waterless beach setting.
Days at Park: Mon, 23 December 2019
Base Camp: DoubleTree - El Paso, Texas
Expedition Parks: Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend, White Sands
Point of Embarkation: El Paso, Texas
An Afterthought
The expedition was over. It had been 7 days, I had driven over 500 miles, and visited 3 national parks. I had a late afternoon flight out of El Paso and was ready to spend the Christmas holidays with family and friends. But I had the entire morning to kill and the White Sands National Monument was not too far away and seemed like an ideal place to spend a relaxed hour or two. No hike was planned, indeed my gear had all been packed for the flight. Had I but known that 3 days earlier Congress would establish White Sands as the 62nd National Park, I may have extended my expedition by another day.
The single paved part of the road leading into the park soon ended and I was driving on the firmly packed crystalline sand itself around the scenic loop. Parking areas were simply large bulldozed patches in the sand where you can pull up to a dune and climb up to the crest to see the vast expanse of gypsum with the San Andres Mountains on the horizon. A popular activity apparently is sand sledding since plastic circular sleds are sold at the visitor center. I would like to have had the time to hike the 5 mile Alkali Flat Trail into the Heart of the Sands. Posted warnings to keep landmarks in sight to avoid getting lost made my desire to explore even stronger. Another time perhaps.
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