Thursday, September 17, 2015

White Sands, New Mexico

Sand dunes and sledding do mix believe it or not. 


     But before I get into that, let me enlighten you a little on these mystical white sands.


     
     Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. These white sands are something that cannot even be described by words. These beautiful wave-like dunes are made of gypsum sand. The very uncommon gypsum sands in New Mexico exist there because this state is not too famous for a wet climate, quite the contrary. The area also has no outlet to the sea, which means that gypsum grains that are dissolved in rainwater have no escape from the area and eventually may become sand grains again. The white sands have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dune field. 

     Cool right?!

      These sand dunes are super fun to hike, climb up, and slide down. Provided by the hotel, we carried up our sleds and began the attempt sliding down the dunes. After failing a few times and beginning to be out of breath from climbing up and down the dunes, we finally figured out a strategy. We waxed the bottom of our sleds (it got pretty serious here) and got a big push and flew down the dunes. I may be exaggerating a little about flying down the dunes but we did make them go a lot faster than before. 

     After a full day of sand dune sledding, we cleaned up and went back for a sunset photoshoot. 

     Sunset at white sands was a breathtaking view. Here are a few photos.








     All in all, I was amazed by the White Sands and can't wait for my next visit back (!!!!!)







~B

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