White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns                                            March 20, 2001

Here are two great places to visit in New Mexico.  They aren't very far apart and although our trip didn't, your's could also include a visit to the space museum at Alamogordo or a stop at that favorite spot for UFO freaks - Roswell.

White Sands National Monument -- Most sand dunes are made of silica.  Occluded materials make the sand a golden beige color.  But there are white sands --  REALLY white sands.  The largest white sand dunes in the world are outside Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The fine particles that cover this 275 sq. mile desert are made of gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate for those who still remember their chemistry)  Gypsum is rarely found as sand, since it's water soluble.  But here in New Mexico the rain and snow falling on the surrounding mountains dissolves the gypsum, carrying it down into a basin that has no outlets to the sea.  Some of the gypsum-laden water forms shallow pools.  Evaporation eventually leaves large well-formed gypsum crystals behind.  Strong winds do the rest -- forming fine sand as airborne crystals rub together, and then depositing the sand into 30-foot high dunes.

We visited White Sands National Monument on a cloudless, sunny day.  The temperature in this desert wilderness was a pleasant 68 F, but there was still plenty of snow on Mount Capitan (summit at >10,000 ft) in the hills to the east.  The sand was so brilliant it was blinding; sunglasses and sunscreen required.  If you plan to go, arrive closer to sunrise or sunset when the shadows and colors are most dramatic.

The 8-mile scenic drive has four different hikes, but since it's permitted to walk anywhere, make your own way.   And, should you have piece of plastic handy, you can slide down one of the steeper sand dunes.  It's even allowed! 

Carlsbad Caverns National Park -- Wanna find a cave?  Look for ocotillos, which prefer to grow in limestone-rich soils, or for bats, which are cave dwellers.  After spending the day hanging from a ceiling, bats forage for insects at night.  If the twilight air has a black stream of bats rising into it or diving to the ground from it, check it out.   Anyway, that's how Carlsbad Caverns and Kartchner Caverns were discovered.

Carlsbad Caverns comprises a large group of caves (some still being discovered) filled with stalagmites, stalactites, columns, draperies and other "decorations".  It's totally awesome, even though only 5% of the formations are still "living."  We did two self-guided tours -- down the one mile of switchbacks and 80 stories that comprise the Natural Entrance Route (and my calves definitely felt it the next day).  Then we meandered along the mile-long concrete path around the perimeter of the "Big Room".  Eventually we joined a ranger-lead tour of the King's Palace area, walking another mile.  At that point we were happy to take the elevator up to ground level, rather than hike out. 

The caverns are amazing.  Unfortunately, pictures can't capture the feeling (cool -- 56F, humid, quiet, and dark, with well-placed lights illuminating the best decorations) or size (cavernous!) of the place.  This photo is the best of those I took, but I'm afraid "virtual travel" just doesn't work here.  There's no sense of size, and no way to capture the depth of the rooms.  You'd better go see for yourself.

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