White Sands National Monument

8 December 2018

It rained during the night.  We hoped the rain might give Sprinty a much needed bath, having collected four weeks of grim.  Not to be.  Sprinty retained his well traveled look.

We left the campsite with a few minutes to spare, so we decided to check out the free camping at Lake Holloman that we did not try and stay at because we were concerned about setting up in fading daylight.  It was just before we got to White Sands.  It was a moderately rough entry with many boondocking spots available.  We took a picture of what it might have looked like if we had camped here last night.

Among the RVs camping at Lake Holloman, we saw a rather distinctive GMC camper conversion.  This is the third time we have seen them in a week.  The first time was at the Panther Junction Visitor Center parking lot at Big Bend NP and we saw them in a free camping area near Carlsbad Caverns.

We got to the Visitor Center at White Sands National Monument just as they opened at 9am.  

We watched the short film about how the dunes were formed and how they continue to grow.  The White Sands dunes are not sand like we find at the beach, rather it is actually gypsum, the same material used to make sheetrock for homes.  The area is a basin, and rains that fall in the mountains that surround the area dissolve gypsum, which then make its way to the lakes that form when there is rain.  As the lakes dry up, selenite crystals form.  Winds cause the crystals to break down into gypsum sand, which is almost as fine as talcum powder.

Most of the dunes were formed 4,000 to 7,000 years ago.  White Sands is the largest gypsum dune system in the world - 176,000 acres - and visible from outer space.

After watching the film, we drove the loop that goes into the dunes.  The first four miles were paved, and the last 4 miles were sand.  A tamer version of the dune ride we did at Silver Lake in Michigan in August.

The road was very compacted, and there was evidence of the grading that has to be done continually due to shifting sands.  We walked to the top of a dune near the Alkali Flat Trail trailhead and took some pictures.

The morning was sunny and quite pleasant.  Even though the temperature was in the mid-40s, the sun and light breeze made for delightful conditions - it felt more like it was 60 degrees.

The White Sands National Monument is clearly well visited.  The entrance station was set up for three lanes, and the parking areas were many, and very large.  This morning however, there were very few people, and seemed like about half of them were amateur photographers.

Continuing west, we headed for Dripping Springs Natural Area on the western edge of the Organ Mountains, managed by the Bureau of Land Management.  Kris had found it in researching things to do in the Las Cruces area.  Dripping Springs Resort was originally built by Colonel Van Patten in the 1870s.  As we ascended to the Visitor Center at 5,500 above sea level, we were in the clouds and visibility was less than 1/4 mile.  We stopped in the Visitor Center where the Ranger offered suggestions for experiencing the area.  We decided to do the Dripping Springs Trail, which was 1.5 miles each way, and gained 500 feet of elevation.  The Ranger said our timing was great - due to the recent rains, Dripping Springs was flowing.  For much of the year, it is dry, or just a trickle.  The path was easy to walk as it was a gravel road.

It took us about 40 minutes to hike to the Dripping Springs, where we enjoyed the water flow while eating lunch.  As we returned back to the parking lot, the fog was lifting.  We were about 1-1/2 hours too early to hike in the sun.  We did get to see scenery we missed on the hike up due to the fog.

Our destination for the night was a golf course in Deming, NM, which is part of the Harvest Hosts program.  Harvest Hosts (www.harvesthosts.com) is an RV club for self-contained RVs to stay for free at wineries, farms, museums and added recently, golf courses.  A quick call this morning confirmed our ability to dry camp there.  Once we arrived, we checked in at the Pro Shop, and they told us where to park.  Out first time to use our Harvest Hosts membership.

We are parked between the tee box for the 10th hole and the chipping/putting practice area.  About 15 yards from our sliding door is a pond with ducks swimming around.  We took advantage of being by the practice area to spend about 30 minutes practicing our chipping.