Alamogordo and White Sands National Monument

Sun, Feb 19 we departed Las Cruses for Alamogordo. We want to see the White Sands National Monument while close by and Hollaman AFB is only a few miles from there. So tonight, we are boondocking (without hookups to water or electric) on Hollaman AFB.

The trip here was only about 1 1/2 hours, but it proved to be interesting. We had to go over a pass, which of course requires a drive down an incline. I had thought that we wouldn't need the lockout on the brakes for the tow dolly, but we found out otherwise. The brakes started smoking (again) on the way down the incline, so we had to install the brake lockout to keep the brakes from engaging coming down an incline. Not what I like to do (I like having brakes everywhere I can get them when driving 15 tons of machine), but necessary to keep the tow dolly from erupting into flames - which ain't good.

We rode around Alamogordo this afternoon. This place doesn't have much going for it except for the military base and the White Sands Missle Range. We did go to a Pistachio (nut) orchard. They grow a lot of them here. Clara bought some, but I don't care for them.

Pistachio Orchard

Here at Hollaman AFB there is a Squadron (20 planes) of the most interesting and probably most secretive aircraft in the Air Force, the F-22. 

F-22

Mon, Feb 20 we started early with trip of a few miles to the White Sands National Monument.  We weren't sure what to expect, but once again, our country has preserved a unique geology that is totally different from anything else. 

Located at the northern end of the Chihauahuan Desert in the Tularosa Basin ringed by mountains is one of the world's great natural wonders.  The glistening white sands of the White Sands National Monument encompass 275 square miles of gypsum sand, the largest gypsum dune field in the world.

The mineral, gypsum, was deposited in the region in a shallow sea 250 million years ago.  Eventually, it turned to stone and was uplifted 70 million years ago when the Rocky Mountains fored.  Eventually, a portion of the mountains collapsed, forming this valley.  The mountains remaining around the valley were filled with gypsum, which has been washed by rain into the valley.  There is no outlet from the valley, so the water saturated with gypsum forms into shallow lakes, which dry up in the summer, leaving the gypsum.  The wind blows almost all the time across these lakes from the Southwest, blowing the gypsum into the dunes we see today. 

It looks like we are driving on snow

It's looks like Mimi is standing in the snow



Visitors to the monument can rent slides and go down the dunes



When the wind picks up to 15 mph, it starts moving the gypsum forming the dunes

The sand is like wet talcum powder - and it sticks to your shoes and anything else.  Our car floor is covered in it and I would think it is hard to get out.

We went on a Ranger led tour at sunset



Sunset on the desert