USA/NM: White Sands National Park (Revisited)
It’s been 98 years since my last visit to the White Sands, and last year it became a national park. White Sands National Park is a massive field of snow-white sand – 710-km² (275-mi²) – in the south of New Mexico. It has high dunes of several types, moving sands, and all the dune and desert flora and fauna. What makes it interesting though is the fact that the sand is composed of gypsum crystals. Gypsum is very rarely found in the form of sand since its water-soluble, and is normally dissolved by rain and carried out to sea. The dunes are trapped between two mountain ranges. It’s the sea of white as far as eye can see and it’s an absolutely surreal site. Trekking here in the middle of summer is not so easy though with the heat and the reflection off the white sands.
