Gypsum Dunes

As an all-too-appropriate last outing for this tour, we visited the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. These massive dunes of gypsum sand fill 275 square miles of the Tularosa Basin at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. Gypsum is hardly ever found as sand because it dissolves in water, but since the basin has no rivers to drain it, the gypsum basically stays put. Not many plant or animal species have been able to adapt to this harsh and ever-changing environment, but a few, including a pocket mouse, two lizards and several insects, have evolved a white coloration to blend in with the sand. The pictures of them in the museum looked like they had all been bleached. The dunes themselves are impressive. We felt like just over each next one we should see the beach, but it was more like the deserts where people could easily become disoriented and hopelessly lost. We were lucky to have a cool day for our hike. We also got a good shot of the US Gypsum truck among the gypsum dunes. Addl. pics click HERE.