We left the BLM land and headed towards White Sands National Monument, trying to stay off the interstates. However, our GPS had us turning every half mile, and was directing us towards some pretty sketchy roads, so we decided to just get on I-25 and head towards Las Cruces. That turned out to be a good decision, because not only is I-25 relatively lightly traveled which made the driving easy, but it got us to White Sands in time to drive through the park and take a hike that day, rather than finding a camping place to spend the night before touring the park the next day, when a wind storm was predicted.
White Sands is terribly beautiful. The park is aptly named, and all you can see is miles of white sand dunes in every direction to the base of the mountains. We drove to the end of the park road and got out with the dogs to take a hike through the dunes. White Sands is different from other parks we’ve visited because park visitors can do whatever they want, go wherever they want, and dogs are welcome as long as their owners clean up after them. We saw people trying to sled down the dunes on flying saucers purchased in the gift shops, and they can do it wherever they want. We’d talked about getting a saucer and trying it, but decided not to because we didn’t want to fill our clothes with sand. When we saw people doing it, we were happy with our decision because it didn’t really look like that much fun and the saucers moved very slowly through the sand. People were walking all over, and it doesn’t really matter because no matter what they do or where they go, the wind will erase any evidence of their passage within a few hours. We took the dogs on a five mile loop trail, but after a mile and a half of climbing up and down dunes, we turned back. We used the dogs as an excuse, but I was pretty ready to turn around and stop trudging through the sand. It’s like the beach without the ocean, and most of the reason I consider myself a woods person rather than a beach person is because I don’t like the sand, so the sand without the water isn’t much fun for me. But, it is incredibly beautiful and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
White Sands is terribly beautiful. The park is aptly named, and all you can see is miles of white sand dunes in every direction to the base of the mountains. We drove to the end of the park road and got out with the dogs to take a hike through the dunes. White Sands is different from other parks we’ve visited because park visitors can do whatever they want, go wherever they want, and dogs are welcome as long as their owners clean up after them. We saw people trying to sled down the dunes on flying saucers purchased in the gift shops, and they can do it wherever they want. We’d talked about getting a saucer and trying it, but decided not to because we didn’t want to fill our clothes with sand. When we saw people doing it, we were happy with our decision because it didn’t really look like that much fun and the saucers moved very slowly through the sand. People were walking all over, and it doesn’t really matter because no matter what they do or where they go, the wind will erase any evidence of their passage within a few hours. We took the dogs on a five mile loop trail, but after a mile and a half of climbing up and down dunes, we turned back. We used the dogs as an excuse, but I was pretty ready to turn around and stop trudging through the sand. It’s like the beach without the ocean, and most of the reason I consider myself a woods person rather than a beach person is because I don’t like the sand, so the sand without the water isn’t much fun for me. But, it is incredibly beautiful and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
After playing in the sand, we drove about five miles from the White Sands entrance to a free boondocking campground we’d found on iOverlander and FreeRoam. It’s on the grounds of the Holloman AFB, and the campsites are around the “lake,” which is actually a wastewater evaporation pond. This means it’s very pretty, but you shouldn’t touch the water, which was fine for us. A lot of campers were there, some obviously overnighting like us, but also some who looked like they were set up for an extended stay. Despite the lack of management, it was very clean, and everybody we encountered was very friendly. And, as advertised, the sunset was stunning.
With the windstorm predicted for the next day, we didn’t make any plans that night. In the morning, the wind hadn’t started yet, so we looked at the map and booked a campground near the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument so we could get there and get to the park the next day. However, by the time we took the dogs for a short walk and got on the road, the wind had started. As we came through the Organ Mountain pass on US70 just east of Las Cruces, the wind hit us like a truck, and we looked ahead into a dust storm. Tom wisely took the next exit off the highway and found a parking lot, just before our phones buzzed with the dust storm warning.
We’re still sitting in the parking lot, three hours later. Most of the dust seems to have passed, but the wind is still rocking and rolling the camper. Maybe we’ll make it to the campground tonight, and maybe we won’t, but in any case we’re safe in our camper and not being blown off an overpass or hit by an out of control truck.
We’re still sitting in the parking lot, three hours later. Most of the dust seems to have passed, but the wind is still rocking and rolling the camper. Maybe we’ll make it to the campground tonight, and maybe we won’t, but in any case we’re safe in our camper and not being blown off an overpass or hit by an out of control truck.
This video is before the dust storm really hit, but you can hear the wind.