After leaving the Carlsbad, NM area we headed towards Alamogordo, NM to visit White Sands National Monument.  On the way we went through Cloudcroft, NM which is high in the mountains and the kids god to get their hands in some snow.  Actually the first real snow we had been in.  In the area we camped at the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park and had an excellent spot with great views.  The state park was at the bottom of Dog Canyon where there was a very nice and long hiking trail.  While staying at the park we hiked the trail twice.  Two miles one day and then 4 miles another.  It had some pretty steep grades so it was not that easy.  The kids did good (for the most part).

The main purpose for visiting the area was the White Sands park.  White Sands is a 275 square mile gypsum sand desert.  It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.  The gypsum that forms the white sand was deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea covering this area 250 million years ago.  Eventually turned into stone, these gypsum-bearing marine deposits were uplifted into a giant dome 70 million years ago when the Rocky Mountains formed.  Then 10 million years ago the center of this dome started to collapse, creating the Tularosa Basin.  Rain and snow in the mountains dissolve gypsum from the rocks and carry it into the Tularosa Basin.  The water with the gypsum gets trapped in the basin and turns to crystals.  These crystals then dry and fall apart into sand.  The wind then blows this sand into the large dunes you see in White Sands.

One of the best parts about White Sands is the ability to slide down the dunes.  So we purchased sleds and hit the dunes.  We all took our turns going down with many roll-overs at the bottom.  The sand is much finer than beach sand so it was nice and soft.  Also, since the sand is so white and bright (much whiter than beach sand) we got a lot of sun during the day. Even Bella had a good time running in the sand and digging holes.  While at the park the kids got another Junior Ranger badge.

Once again another fun stop and great park.  We will continue to do National Parks as we travel.  Now we head toward AZ for a week or so.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Everyday Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.