White Sands National Monument, NM

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Very Cool day trip on our way out of Elephant Butte....White Sands National Monument



A large spread (+/- 257 acres) of pure white sand dunes made up of the mineral Gypsum, remnants from when the area was covered by a shallow sea. We got there early to hike the dunes before the sun set in. There's a few hiking loop options, we choose the longest one at 5 miles. For us that really didnt sound like a big hike....then it sunk in that we were hiking in soft sand, UP and DOWN giant dunes where one step forward was one step back. We also choose to hike barefoot which was pleasant at first but feet got sore towards the end. We hiked for what seemed like a while and came to the sign saying we'd gone 1.7 miles (and half our water was gone) if we turned back we would have done almost 4 miles so we continued on the 5 mile trek. Kona (black as black can be) was feeling the sun by mid/late morning. There was no shelter from the sun anywhere. Blinding white sand. Big mountains as the backdrop. Great side trip.



Also located near by was Holloman Air Force Base....where they are testing the latest United States fighter jet. We'd heard rumors that we might get a sneak peak. Didnt see anything till after the hike when we were resting by the car. Then the roar of the jet engines in the distance got closer and closer and there they were, space craft looking, wings going all the way to the tail of the jet, three of them in unison overhead. Cool! They started doing some hard banking turns above us, water vapor trails behind them, high speed super hard turns the other direction, awesome to watch. Then they disappeared for a while until out of no where one came screaming above us, higher altitude this time but super fast, as it moved directly above us it was a wobbling sound, and as it got overhead it was boxing our ears to the point that we both covered our ears, it had to be breaking the sound barrier, never experienced a sonic boom before but that was incredible.



Enjoy the pics.



JP

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Photos

Stink Beetle
This little guy was the only living creature we saw over a 3 hour hike. No reptiles, no birds, no nothing.

Where are we now...
Matches this blog, we're really just following the weather. Probably stay in this region longer than initially anticipated. But we're finding cool stuff.

Comments

[Momma Plante]

Ripples in the sand
Very cool, looks like wave ripples in the water. I love the feel of white powdery sand between my toes. Foot massage is in order for you both.

[Rob Callan]

Thanks for posting
Just got home from an 11 hour work day and read this blog on Joani's computer. Wow what an adventure! Super cool pictures of the white sand and I imagined I could hear the wobble wobble of that jet in the sky. You guys are doing a great job on writing this blog. I really liked seeing the picture of the Atlas showing how far you have gone. Nearly 1:00AM now and I am wide awake. I'm sure Kona is sound asleep from all the running around she did today. Enjoy and keep writing, it's fun to read.