March 15, 2020 - Two BLM National Monuments and White Sands National Park
I spent the night at a rest area right outside of Las Cruces. There was a sign posted there stating it was an award winning rest area. I eventually spent three nights in this rest area. It was nice. Two sets of bathrooms (one old and one new), multiple picnic spaces tiered on the hill with partial walls to allow privacty, a dog walk with multiple fire hydrants and a giant roadrunner sculpture. It w
as nice.
I knew I was close to both National Monuments I wanted to check out, so I threw one into the GPS and headed off to the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. After Ironwood Forest and Sonoran Desert National Monuments from the BLM I thought I'd double checked all my other National Monuments to make sure they were worth a stop. Prehistoric Trackways didn't have a sign or directions as I was getting closer to it and I was getting a little nervous. But I got there and little sign at the entrance confirmed I was in the right place. It was definitely a BLM space, there were some boomdockers hanging out in their super large RV's. There was a few rough road drives and some hiking. There were some educational displays in the front. They basically said, we found cool shit here. We took all the shit and put it in a museum in Albuquerque. Bring water when you hike. The hikes lead somewhat immediately towards a hill. I was torn....do I try any hiking here? The desert here wasn't pretty, there was no shade, there were lots of hills. I ended up doing about half a mile and turning around.
Next on the list was the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. This was on the other side of town but only about half an hour away. I show up and apparently, every person on the planet has shown up. Parking is full, the visitors center is closed and a park ranger is given information and directions from the head of the parking lot. I took some pictures and headed out. I could see some of the trail heads but they all went up hill. Its still super early. Its Sunday and I had considered spending the day at the library but Sunday hours were limited. I could go to White Sands maybe? Checked the GPS. Yep, I can go to White Sands, its not even lunch time yet. I grabbed some drive thru and hit the road. I knew it would be pushing it a little. I'd get good time at the park, but the museum closes earlier. But if I hit the museum first, I could move onto the park and utilize all the daylight.
I get to White Sands and the parking lot at the museum is completely full. Completely. People parked in non-parking spots. I'm not that patient. On to the park. Got a map from the park ranger on my way in and headed to the first hiking spot. White Sands varies from the entrance to the back. At the entrance, there is some sand. You an see a little hill of dunes. But you still have plenty of vegetation and other interesting things. The first hiking spot was a one mile loop that included lots of educational signs that helped determine where you should go. Its brilliant. Be
cause once you climb over that little dune, you realize the entire back side of the dune is dune. For as far as you can see. Without those little signs, it would be hard to know where to walk. I was wearing sneakers. You'd think I would have learned about sand and ventilated running shoes already. But nope, I stumbled along in mounds of fine sand for the full mile.
The next hike was a boardwalk. Again, lots of educational signs and lots of sand. Still some vegetation, but it was getting to be less and less.
The next hike was a long hike into the desert that I wasn't about to do. So I drove slowly in the final loop and took lots of photos. Here, the vegetation is gone. Its just sand. Lots and lots of sand. Full families were everywhere with the sleds and sledding down the hills. The sand was white and it really looked like snow. If it were for all the people in shorts and tank tops, you could totally make snow pictures here.
as nice.I knew I was close to both National Monuments I wanted to check out, so I threw one into the GPS and headed off to the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. After Ironwood Forest and Sonoran Desert National Monuments from the BLM I thought I'd double checked all my other National Monuments to make sure they were worth a stop. Prehistoric Trackways didn't have a sign or directions as I was getting closer to it and I was getting a little nervous. But I got there and little sign at the entrance confirmed I was in the right place. It was definitely a BLM space, there were some boomdockers hanging out in their super large RV's. There was a few rough road drives and some hiking. There were some educational displays in the front. They basically said, we found cool shit here. We took all the shit and put it in a museum in Albuquerque. Bring water when you hike. The hikes lead somewhat immediately towards a hill. I was torn....do I try any hiking here? The desert here wasn't pretty, there was no shade, there were lots of hills. I ended up doing about half a mile and turning around.
Next on the list was the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. This was on the other side of town but only about half an hour away. I show up and apparently, every person on the planet has shown up. Parking is full, the visitors center is closed and a park ranger is given information and directions from the head of the parking lot. I took some pictures and headed out. I could see some of the trail heads but they all went up hill. Its still super early. Its Sunday and I had considered spending the day at the library but Sunday hours were limited. I could go to White Sands maybe? Checked the GPS. Yep, I can go to White Sands, its not even lunch time yet. I grabbed some drive thru and hit the road. I knew it would be pushing it a little. I'd get good time at the park, but the museum closes earlier. But if I hit the museum first, I could move onto the park and utilize all the daylight.
I get to White Sands and the parking lot at the museum is completely full. Completely. People parked in non-parking spots. I'm not that patient. On to the park. Got a map from the park ranger on my way in and headed to the first hiking spot. White Sands varies from the entrance to the back. At the entrance, there is some sand. You an see a little hill of dunes. But you still have plenty of vegetation and other interesting things. The first hiking spot was a one mile loop that included lots of educational signs that helped determine where you should go. Its brilliant. Be
cause once you climb over that little dune, you realize the entire back side of the dune is dune. For as far as you can see. Without those little signs, it would be hard to know where to walk. I was wearing sneakers. You'd think I would have learned about sand and ventilated running shoes already. But nope, I stumbled along in mounds of fine sand for the full mile.
The next hike was a long hike into the desert that I wasn't about to do. So I drove slowly in the final loop and took lots of photos. Here, the vegetation is gone. Its just sand. Lots and lots of sand. Full families were everywhere with the sleds and sledding down the hills. The sand was white and it really looked like snow. If it were for all the people in shorts and tank tops, you could totally make snow pictures here.
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