Other than missiles, rockets, and Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, NM is also known for its gigantic sea of sparkling white gypsum. The ever-changing dunes of brilliant and white gypsum sand engulf 275 sq miles of the White Sands National Monument.
Gypsum dunes form here under a unique set of circumstances. Rain and snow in the surrounding mountains dissolve the mineral gypsum from the rocks and carry it into the Tularosa Basin below.
Since there is no river to drain the basin, water containing the gypsum is trapped. Then the water evaporates, leaving the gypsum behind in the form of selenite crystals. The forces of nature – freezing and thawing, wetting and drying – eventually break the crystals down into sand-sized particles light enough to be moved by the wind. Without wind there would be no dunes. Since wind speeds of only 17 mph are needed to start the movement, we bet that the day after our visit when the wind storm with gusts of 40-50 mph must have moved a lot of dunes!
Hiking along the 1.5 mile Dune Life Nature Trail, we were fascinated by the various animal footprints left behind. Most of the animals are nocturnal because of the harsh daytime temperatures. They are rarely seen during the day but their tracks from the previous night tell a story. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, plants and animals adapt to desert conditions – such as the Soaptree Yucca in the picture below, where two thirds of its body is now under the sand due to dune movement.
When you are surrounded by this glistening sand, you can’t help but feel like a kid. I tried to “sled” down the dunes, can you tell I’m having so much fun!
From the sands on earth to the sun up in the skies we took a scenic drive to 9200′ via the Sunspot Solar System Model to the National Solar Observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains. Dry air, with very little pollution and plenty of sunshine make the peak an excellent site for observing the sun. The pretty drive began at “Neptune” in the town of Cloudcroft and ending up at the Sun, where the visitor center is located.
Since we didn’t call ahead, we were surprised when we found the visitor center closed on a Monday. Fortunately, a walking tour map was available so we ventured on our own. There are many gigantic telescopes housed in domes around the grounds. The Evans Solar Facility houses the coronagraph and coelostat, which are mainly used to look at the corona around the sun – the faint outermost layer.
An impressive instrument we checked out was the Dunn Solar Telescope. The tower above ground is 136′ tall, but there is another 228′ of the structure underground. The kind of things on the Sun that scientists here are investigating are granulation, sunspots, solar flares and varying magnetic fields. If you look closely at the center monitor on the right image, you will note that the telescope is displaying a sunspot in real time. Cool, we saw the sun !
Just a few minutes from the Sunspot Solar Observatory was the privately-owned Apache Point Observatory. There are four telescopes currently operated there, performing night-sky astronomical research. If you are into research or are interested in the closest star to Earth, our Sun, a visit to the observatory is worthwhile. If you are just curious travelers like us, then the scenic drive to Sacramento Peak makes it a good day!
From 9200′ we could admire a spectacular view of the Tularosa Basin with White Sands surrounded by the San Andres Mountains.
Lowes Travels 
Those dunes look like a lot of fun!
Very! The hike at the Natural trail was very informative too.
Too bad the solar telescope was closed. It would have been interesting for you to get a close-up look.
I didn’t know there are SUN telescopes. This year “Solar Flare 2013: Intense Sun Eruption Aimed At Earth, Scientists Say” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/solar-flare-2013-earth_n_2661587.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green
Thanks for the link Marcy, I had a feeling those scientist at the Sunspot Solar System will see those solar flares. That telescope we saw was really really huge !
Great info since we’ll be heading in that direction soon. Where did you park Betsy? Those dunes look amazing and that hot chick appears to be having way too much fun!
We stayed at White Sands RV Community Park. Lots of constructions when we were there. And yes i had so much fun.
The white gypsum sand is beautiful, especially with the dunes. Glad you had fun “skiing” in the sand. Thanks for explaining!
I would love the Sunspot Observatory. I have fascination with the flares on the sun. I guess it comes from having taught about the sun.
Add two more visits to the list!
Great photos!
Thanks, If you do go, make sure the visitor center is open. I think there are more info there that we missed.
Hi Mon, Looks like you already went to New Mexico. Wish you had visited the Loretto Chapel .Check it on google ..Miraculous Spiral Staircase. Becky
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Thanks Trotts, we will when we come back next year.
Fascinating and oh, so informative your information is. Never knew anything about this. Your pictures, especially of the expansive dunes are wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing this.
You are so welcome. It is even more beautiful when you experience and touch the white fine sand./gypsum.
Love that photo of you um – butt-sledding! LOL! Looks like a lot of fun (and no cold buns!)
Ha ha . almost had cold buns…the sand was freezing cold!
Great pictures, love the dunes. I could never get over the feeling that you were driving on sand and not snow, they are so white. When we were there, a local guy was showing off his camel. Was a great site to see.
Now that guy was pretty cool in his lime green shirt + camel. We went early morning and it was so quiet and serene with the cool breeze touching your cheeks.
Loved all your photos and the great info you provide on White Sands. I particularly like the photos of you sand sledding Mona. 🙂
Thank You LuAnn. I had fun in the very cold/freezing sand!
And now, I have been urged to go to Palomar Observatory the next time I go down south in San Diego.
Do you know the best place to see sand dunes in California? I always dread far and long empty space…..too much walking. Hehehe
Oh yes, your closest sand dunes is in Death Valley! And of course that is just one of the many fascinating things to do there. Be there before it gets really really HOT!
Ahhh, extreme hot is not an issue. I can always walk around in my underwear. Bwahahaha. Joke. That’s another thing I dread off with considering of going to sand dunes.