White Sands National Park

More sand! Just a few weeks removed from Great Sand Dunes National Park is White Sands National Park.

It's not breaking news to say that sand isn't the same everywhere, and this was no exception. The sand at this park was — wait for it — white. It was gypsum. The sand at Great Sand Dunes was more of a yellowish brown, which is what I think of when I hear the word "sand." Not only was the sand here white, but it was very fine. These dunes were also much smaller than the ones at Great Sand Dunes. In fact, they were more like hills. That may be why they don't use the word "dunes" in the park's name.

One unique thing about this park is that it's completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Testing Range. Completely. That means it closes during tests (none happened during our stay). I suppose it's bad press to blow up a group of national park visitors. Just north of the park is the site of the very first atomic bomb detonation, the Trinity Site. Numerous other bombs were detonated in this area after that first one. Perhaps I should have brought a Geiger counter on this trip, but as it turns out, we don't own one.

What is there to do at a park based on sand? Play in the sand! Julie purchased some sand sleds before this park, and we spend some time sledding the dunes. Because they were so much smaller than the ones at Great Sand Dunes, the wipeouts were not nearly as spectacular.

After some time sledding, we had lunch and then the kids decided to have a sand war. The roads and parking lots at the park are plowed daily to push back the constantly encroaching sand. This creates hills of sand on the sides that is chunkier than the sand on the dunes (if you've lived in a snowy region, picture the hills on the side of a freshly plowed road). Because the sand was chunkier, it was suitable for throwing. Hence, sand war.

The kids each spent about an hour building their defenses. It was interesting to witness their varying strategies. Asher went with a giant pit. Jordan went with a sled shield reinforced with sand. Caleb decided to carve his fort out of the berm. Unfortunately, they built their forts farther apart than any of them could throw a chunk of sand. So the entire "war" consisted of them running around in between the forts.

After a truce was called, the boys and I hiked a trail while the girls did a short nature walk. If you are wondering what a hiking trail amongst sand dunes is like, you are probably picturing the right thing. It was a few miles of walking on sand. There is no trail. The key is to make sure you can always spot the next signpost, which is typically not too difficult given that the tallest vegetation is measured in inches.

We then did a ranger-led walk at sunset and called it a day.