Sunset at White Sands

Sunset over the desert is a unique experience. The following photos are of sunset over the White Sands Missile Range. The photos show the gathering twilight over the desert and the surrounding mountains. The pictures tell the rest of the story.

The Flora of White Sands

A number of truly hardy plant species have adapted to life in this white shifting sand environ- ment. A few examples are pictured. These plants' existence create some interesting architecture. In combination with sunset, they provide some great photo opportunities. 

According to the National Park Service brochure:

A few plants are remarkably adapted to avoid burial by moving sand. The soaptree yucca elongates its stem to keep its leaves above the sand, growing upward a foot per year. Some plants anchor parts of a dune with their roots and keep growing on a sand pedestal even after the dune moves on.

Visiting White Sands in the winter, one doesn't see the dramatic effect of these desert plants in bloom. 

White Sands

Most people know White Sands as part of the name of a missile range in south-eastern New Mexico. The White Sands Missile Range is about 60 miles east to west and 100 miles north to south. It is the largest military reserve in the lower 48. 

It got its name, however, from a small area within the reserve that is, in fact, white sand dunes composed largely of gypsum. A "small area" is relative; the dunes cover 275 square miles of the desert. The road through the dunes stretches 8 miles. 

A large portion of the dunes area is devoid of vegetation. The white dunes stretch as far as the eye can see. Around the edges of the dunes area a variety of vegetation struggles to hang on in this harsh environment.

The road into the dunes begins as a paved road and ends as a compacted sand trail. In the heart of the dunes, the National Park Service duels with the prevailing wind. Modified snow plows are used to push back the drifting sand to keep the roads open. The dunes continue to move in the direction of the prevailing winds. 

The dunes are located at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert in the Tularosa Basin. The Basin is ringed by mountains. This is a popular tourist attraction. The Park Service has provided amenities. While the picture looks like a row of Conestoga wagons, it is in fact portable picnic shelters oriented to provide protection from the prevailing wind.

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns is one of the best known tourist attractions in the U.S. After touring it recently, we understand why.

The Caverns are located in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in south eastern New Mexico's Chihuanuan Desert. The National Park Service offers both guided and unguided tours. We took an unguided tour of the Big Room. The perimeter walk is 1.3 miles. It includes gigantic subterranean chambers and fantastic cave formations.

Carlsbad Cavern began 250 million years ago with the creation of a 400-mile long reef in an inland sea that covered the region. Over time geologic processes resulted in the formation of sulfuric acid in the rock formation which dissolved limestone and opened fractures and faults into today's large chambers. The stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and curtains are still being formed by dripping water continuing to dissolve various minerals in the cave.

In the third of our pictures, you can see the ripple effect from a single drop of water into one of a number of pools throughout the chamber.

The Caverns are home to thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats from early spring to October. Each night the bats exist the cave enmasse to feed on insects. The exodus can last from 20 minutes to 2 1/2 hours every night! The bats migrate to Mexico for the winter months, so we did not have the opportunity to experience this phenomena...

Our pictures will give you some idea of the variety of formations, but to appreciate the scale of this underground wonder you simply have to visit! 

St. Joseph's Catholic Church in New Mexico

St. Joseph's Catholic Church is an imposing edifice on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, not far from Ruidoso, New Mexico. The church has walls four feet thick in some places. It is currently nearly through a renovation period.

The church was decorated for Christmas when we visited. In the center of the sanctuary (altar area) was a white tepee with the Holy Family in a manager scene inside the tepee. The Holy Family were Native American images. Adam and Isaac, our grandsons, were fascinated by the manger scene.

Not shown in our pictures is a painting of Jesus as a Native American. The two stations of the cross in the last picture also depict Native Americans.

Smoky Bear Historical Park

Our visit to Smoky Bear Historical Park was especially fun because we had two little boys with us. The Park is in Capitan, New Mexico, near the place where the original Smoky Bear cub was found after a forest fire. 

There are exhibits, movies, games, and memorabilia in the Visitor Center. The original Smoky Bear lived most of his life in the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  

Over the years, many celebrities have been the voice of Smoky in efforts to reduce the incidences of forest fires caused by humans. 

There was a special effort to reduce forest fires during World War II because wood was considered a precious natural resource critical to the war effort.

The park area outside the Center includes the burial site of the original Smoky Bear as well as a park-like trail showing trees native to the area.

Note to readers: There was just a bit of snow along the trail.

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

The Three Rivers Petroglyph site is north of Alamagordo and is managed by the Federal Government. There are over 21,000 glyphs from the Jornada Mogollon people who lived in the area between 900 and 1400 A.D. They traded with other agriculturalists, the Anasazi. By the time the Spanish entered the area in the 1500s, these villages had been mysteriously abandoned. 

The glyphs depict a wide variety of things: birds, plants, animals, insects, people, and geometric designs. The 21,000+ glyphs were extensively studied and catalogued during the site's excavation which ended in 1976. The 50-acre site is open to the public and provides one of few sites where the public can wander freely and view the glyphs. The trail leads the viewer about a mile along a ridge.  

The first photo shows a bold geometric design; the second, the thunderbird. The third glyph depicts a sheep with arrows through it.

In the distance to the east one can see Sierra Blanca Peak, one of the highest points in New Mexico.