Start Location: Grants, NM
Ending Location: Alamogordo, NM
Miles Today: 286
Trip Miles: 1742
States Visited: 6
National Parks Visited: 1
Low Temp: 65.4° F
High Temp: 92.3° F
Min Elevation: 3972'
Max Elevation: 6680'
Route Map:
White Sands 2024 Day05
Today was our shortest day on the road so far. We left our hotel a
little before 9:00 and arrived at White Sands National Park around 2:00
PM. For the most part the roads were much better than the previous day.
We were on two short stretches of Interstates and the rest of the time
we were on 2 lane roads with very little traffic. We saw a lot of
Amazon semis on the interstates and, at some point, we passed a train
that had a huge number of containers with the Amazon logo. That seemed
a little strange until we got to Los Lunas, NM and found a huge, brand
new Amazon fulfillment center. Apparently it's over a million square
feet and employs 600 people.
Back
to the park. We started at the Visitor Center where the sign still
calls it the White Sands National Monument, probably costs too much to
change the sign. The park was only recently designated a National Park
in 2019. In the visitor center we viewed a short 17 minute video that
told the history of White Sands, how it was formed, and how it still
continues to remake itself.
From the visitor center we
headed for the loop road and the entry fee booth but the booth was
closed so we didn't even get to show our lifetime senior pass. What we
didn't know is that the road is only paved for the first 5 miles and
then it's packed sand. Although packed sand makes for a hard road, it
does not necessarily make for a smooth road. The road had lots of
ripples and pot holes and we were only able to go around 15 miles an
hour. That was not a problem because the park and the road were
definitely not crowded.
The park is aptly named. There is a
lot of white sand, apparently 275 square miles of it. It was very weird
and looked very much like snow. Apparently the road has to be regularly
plowed because of blowing sand and the side of the road even looks like
plowed snow.
There were a few people hiking but the rangers
definitely did not recommend it. The temperature was in the low 90's
and obviously there was no shade. We were not really dressed for hiking
anyway and it didn't look like you could see much more than more sand.
The sand is actually gypsum which is what drywall and plaster are made
from but, when you picked up a hand full, I expected it to be more of a
powder but it was more like a very fine sand.
It was nice to get a chance to see the park but I doubt if we will be back any time soon. You never know until you try it.
Tomorrow we are headed towards Bryce Canyon National Park where we are taking an extra day and will definitely do some hiking.
