From Caverns to Mountains to White Sands

Guadalupe Mountains National Park - Sunny skies, high 67F, low 42F

Almost there

Yesterday we drove 30 miles from the caverns to the national park and paid our $4 to stay the night at Pine Springs Campground.  They call it a campground but really it's just a parking lot at the trail head.  Who cares, the view is spectacular.  We're surrounded by the Guadalupe Mountains, elevation 5,730.  Setting up was quick since there are no hookups, so we put on our hiking shoes and backpack and headed for Devil's Hall Trail.  It was a rocky hike in Pine Spring Canyon leading to the Hikers' Staircase and Devil's Hall.  After the first mile, the trail drops into the wash to Devil's Hall.  It was a 4.2 mile round trip hike, elevation 6,200.   Maybe another time we'll tackle the top of Guadalupe Peak at an elevation of 8,749.  With wind gusts up to 45 miles the wash was a better choice for us than the peak.  Today's 3 hour moderate hike wasn't total commitment like the Peak's 6-8 hour strenuous climb would have been.

Sunrise at Carlsbad

Sunset at Carlsbad

Guadalupe Mountain Range

The little Nikon camera we bought from Amazon less than a month ago decided to quit on us just as we reached the top of Devil's Hall.  Too bad, because the view was magnificent.

Between climbing out of Carlsbad Caverns on Saturday and hiking the trail at Guadalupe Mountain yesterday, our legs had a few complaints this morning.


White Sands National Monument, New Mexico - Partly sunny skies and very windy

We visited this park in January of 2010 and here we are again because now we can visit for free with Denis' senior pass.  We drove the 8-mile loop admiring the pure white mounds of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate) and walked on the Alkali Flat (which isn't flat but wave-like dunes).  Gypsum is a rare form of sand because it's water soluble.  Rain and snow in the mountains dissolve gypsum from the rocks and carry it into the Tularosa Basin.  Typically, rivers would carry dissolved gypsum to the sea, but no river drains the Tularosa Basin.  The gypsum and other sediments are trapped in the basin creating this beautiful 275 square mile natural wonder.  It's fun to watch the "kids" coming down the dunes in a saucer.

It's been a long 200-mile day with stops at the UPS store to send our camera back to Amazon, Costco to buy a new camera (Nikon Coolpix S6400) and our visit to White Sands.  We were going to stay at a campground but when we got there, no one was in the office, we drove around and couldn't find a pull-through so we drove about three minutes down the road to our friendly Walmart.

White Sands National Monument

Sledding down the dunes

Thanks for stopping in.