White Sands Camping Trip

I've been wanting to go camping at White Sands National Monument since around Christmas. It's supposed to be a very cool place around the full moon. Unfortunately, temperatures in the desert can drop pretty drastically at night in winter, so even though it's the best time to visit the Monument during the day, it's too cold for camping at night. Several of the full moons were during the week. Others just didn't work out for other coordination reasons. So, since we're finally on summer break, and it was near the full moon (give or take a few days) Christina and I decided to head out to spend a night on the dunes. 

 Tent Site #10. It was about a .75 mile hike to the tent site. Because it was 98 degrees out when we started our hike, we had to abandon half our stuff at one of the dune markers and make 2 trips. This means we ended up hiking over 4 miles this trip. :)

 Here's a close-up shot of our tent in the dunes. We spent the evening watching the stars, talking, and digging holes with our feet in the sand, which is very cool and silky.

 Christina taking some photos of the sunset from the dune in front of our tent.

 Some goofing around led to a tree pose. What's hard to see is that if I lost my balance, there was a good chance of toppling over either side of the dune. This was about the time we decided it would be a good idea to head back to the car for some cold drinks. I hiked the rest of the way barefoot.

 I think this is my favorite shot of the whole trip. The sun really makes the edges of the dunes come to life, and there's so much that's untouched by human feet that sometimes it can leave one feeling like an adventurer discovering the area for the first time.

 Sunset. This was about the time we found my lost root beer. Apparently it had fallen out of my backpack when we were hiking in. I was really disappointed at having lost it, since it was the only cold beverage I took from the cooler. Luckily it was waiting for me in the sand, warm, but still delicious.

A trail marker pointing the way to the camp sites, with our tent in the background. :)