White Sands National Monument, July 2018: Afternoon

The final stop on my Summer 2018 road trip was White Sands National Monument. It was also going to be my first solo backcountry camping experience, though in the interest of complete disclosure my campsite was only a mile from where I parked. It had been a great trip, and I was looking forward to visiting this place I'd heard and seen so much about.

I couldn't have asked for better weather.  After Death Valley, any temperature below 100 degrees seemed comfortable.  Winds were light, and the skies were filled with just enough clouds to be interesting.

I headed straight for the Alkali Flat Trail for a late afternoon hike.  My goal was to be at my campsite an hour before sunset, and I was pretty sure if I spent no more than two hours on the trail that would be easy to accomplish.

The name of this place is no lie -- 275 square miles of white gypsum sand.

The dunes here didn't seem as tall as those at Great Sand Dunes National Park, but they did appear to stretch much farther.

The trail was well established with lots of helpful signage and markers.  Footprints were also a big help, but I'm sure they only last as long as the next heavy rain or wind.

As much as I like the vibrant blue sky in the color version of this scene, I feel the texture in both the sand and sky is more apparent in the black-and-white version.  If you have an opinion on which you prefer, please leave it below in the comments!

It might be a little strong to call the vegetated areas in the dunes "oases."  But the contrast between them and the barrenness of the dunes themselves was striking.

I did reach my campsite on schedule, where I proceeded to nervously watch this storm to the southeast and try and figure out in what direction it was moving.  Eventually I decided it was not, in fact, headed my way.  So I was able to relax and wait to see what sort of spectacle the sunset would bring.

More to come!