Let the Beauty of what you Love be what you Do...
~Rumi

Saturday, July 3, 2010

White Sands, New Mexico


This was a place I had only seen pictures of, but always wanted to visit. As luck would have it, it was on the way to my new job! Ideally it would have been best to photograph at dawn or dusk to catch the details in the dunes, but I was passing through at high noon, so I just did the best I could.


I thought this was interesting. The dunes are in constant movement & pay no heed to roads & such. This guy's job is to grade the roads & push back the dunes, so that visitors like me can get through!


While I've seen sand dunes before... I have never in my life seen them so white! The sand is made up of the mineral gypsum, but is rarely found as sand because it is soluble in water.


Rivers would usually carry the dissolved gypsum to the sea but there is no river that drains the Tularosa Basin, so the water, gypsum & and other sediments are trapped... forming the beautiful white sands we see today.


I hiked out in the dunes for about a half an hour... but that was about all I could take. Though it was only 90 degrees, the intense reflection off the white sand made me feel like I was in the worlds largest solar cooker & I was drenched in sweat when I got back to my car!


Plus, this is not a place you'd want to get lost!! There is no shade whatsoever...and I kept thinking of the story of how Death Valley (Calif.) got it's name.


This is the picnic area, where I did in fact picnic. It looks like another world, doesn't it?! I love the design... it reminds me of a sculptural installation.


This sign cracked me up (click to enlarge & read)! In all seriousness, though, I can see how one could get turned around & lose their sense of direction in this place!
:)

9 comments:

Annie Coe said...

Becky, I wish you would have come through Taos! I have never been to White Sands, but it is wonderful. I love all your fab photos. Magical and beautiful.
xoxo

Wanda..... said...

All of your photos are of another world, Becky!
The blue sky and all the white clouds, plus the white sand...extremely beautiful! I love the third photo!
...Wanda

Lubna said...

Hi Becky,
I hopped here from the post you left on Annie's blog. Best wishes for success and happiness in your new job.

Becky said...

Wow ! I thought I was looking at a snow scene. It is awesome !! So clean . I bet you really need sunglasses there to protect your eyes from the glare of the sun reflecting on the sand ! Wonderful pics Becky !

becky said...

Becky, yes! When I removed my sunglasses to take the photos, It was so bright I could only take them off for a few moments!! Even still, the glare made it feel like they were going to melt on my face! Definitely wouldn't want to be caught out there without them! :)

KClark Photography said...

Wow! Those blue skies and white white sands and clouds are striking. That picnic area made me laugh. Very other worldly.

clairz said...

Becky, I'm loving your New Mexico shots. The one of the White Sands picnic area reminded me of this one from the recent Day of Enchantment [in NM] Photo Contest--darn, I can't link directly to it. Go to http://www.dayofenchantment.com/, then search White Sands. You'll have to look around a bit, but you'll find a picture of the picnic area flooded with water after a [rare] rainfall.

It's definitely another kind of view of the place, and one I've never seen.

Pat said...

We stopped here too! I loved it! We even took videos of kids sledding down the dunes. As a matter of fact, I was thinking of posting it soon as a "Flashback".

Your pictures are beautiful. It is so incredible to see sand dunes in the middle of nowhere.

Randy said...

These are amazing photos. I have not been there in years. Thanks for the trip back.