San Pedro Branch Library, Albuquerque, NM
Mt Harney, SD, now included in 30 Mar post below
A day at the beach at South Padre Island in Texas -- right?
Wrong, Bead-Breath! This is gypsum sand on 20 May (this month) at White Sands National Monument, and it's likely much cleaner than what the students left behind on the Gulf after their recent Spring Break.
Hydrous calcium sulfate (or gypsum) normally ends up in the sea; however, the Tularosa Basin is land-locked. And because of the high water table gypsum helps form selenite crystals, which can reach 3 feet in length. But once the south-west wind begins blowing they're shattered. And as they're pushed to the north-east, they're broken into smaller particles. In fact, gypsum sand is alleged to be softer than talcum powder once it's thoroughly pulverized.
"Adapt or die" is the operative addage here at White Sands. If a yucca doesn't keep it's leaves above a rising sand dune, it's curtains. Sometimes a yucca can hold together a pedestal on which it can continue growing as the rising sand dunes "back off." Unfortunately I neglected to photograph the only one I saw.
Like the yucca the larger cottonwood must also grow fast enough to keep its leaves above the sand.
There appear to be at least two, if not three, cottonwoods in this photo.
Will the growth in the interdunal area be overrun by the white sands? Check back in 40 or so years.
To date 275 square miles have been overrun by the white sands.
The title of the plaque says it all: "White on White: Survival of the Whitest.
Insects can evolve rapidly; "...white forms of beetles, spiders, crickets, mantises, scorpions, and grasshoppers inhabit the dune fields."
While this may be hard to believe, the Spring/Summer Guide for White Sands shows the picnic areas at the end of the road under a few feet of water. The reasons: 1)a high water table, and 2)no river or stream out of the Tularosa Basin
A shot across the hood of my pickup at the end of Dunes Drive, where some of the picnic areas as well as some of the largest dunes in the monument are to be found.
Another shot of the humanoids on a good-sized dune. Some had plastic dishes they had bought from the Visitor Center so that they could slide down the sides of dunes. Afterward, they would apparently bargain with the Center to see how much of their initial price they might reclaim.
One final look across the white sands at the San Andres Mountains.
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Links:
- National Park Service webpages on White Sands National Monument
- NPS White Sands Photo Gallery
- Wikipedia article on White Sands Natl Monument
- 9 excellent Gorp.Com photos of White Sands
Routes:
T 20 May Actual Route: Alamogordo W/M - White Sands Natl Monument - Las Cruces Lib - Las Cruces W/M
W 21 May Actual Route: Las Cruces W/M - Las Cruces Lib - Caballo - Kingston - NM152 bd
Th 22 May Actual Route: NM152 bd - Caballo - Truth or Consequences Civic Ctr - TorC W/M
F 23 May Actual Route: TorC W/M - Truth or Consequences Civic Ctr - Socorro Lib - Socorro W/M
Sa 24 May Actual Route: Socorro W/M - Socorro McDs - Belen Lib - ABQ San Pedro Br Lib - ABQ Hillerman B Lib - Wyoming Blvd W/M
Su 25 May Actual Route: Wyoming Blvd W/M - Trader Joe's - ABQ San Pedro Br Lib - Wyoming Blvd W/M
M 26 May Actual Route: Wyoming Blvd W/M - Trader Joe's - ABQ San Pedro Br Lib - Big Lots - Wyoming Blvd W/M
T 27 May Actual Route: Wyoming Blvd W/M - ABQ VA Hosp Pharm - ABQ San Pedro Br Lib - Moriarty Lib - Lisa's Truck Stop
W 28 May Actual Route: Lisa's Truck Stop - Moriarty Lib - Pecos Natl Historic Park - Las Vegas, NM, W/M
Th 29 May Actual Route: Las Vegas, NM, W/M - McDs - Las Vegas Lib - Ft Union Natl Monument - Springer - I-25 bd
F 30 May Actual Route: I-25 bd - Raton Lib - Trinidad, CO - Walsenburg Lib - US160 bd
Sa 31 May Route: US160 bd - Walsenburg Lib - Pueblo Lamb Br Lib
Finding Campgrounds:
- RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
- Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
- Free campsites website
- Info on finding BLM Campgrounds
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