The temperature on the dashboard reads 88 degrees. You shake your head because you can’t wrap your mind around what your eyes tell you. You are driving in a blizzard and drifts cover the lane ahead…

We begin most of our NPS sessions by getting our passport book stamped, watching the video and learning from interactives at the Visitor Center.

Some White Sands facts that stood out:

• The boundaries of the sands of White Sands are ever shifting
• The only stable hillocks form because the plant on top rooted to defend against that constant movement
• Other plant strategies are grow fast and/or tall
• Animals survive by adapting, like the salamander evolved white skin
• The sand isn’t sand but gypsum

Next, we drove to the short boardwalk trail.

We snapped a few shots but life there really is sparse. Unless you count the people who did not speak English and therefore could not read the sign forbidding them to do exactly what they did: climb off the boardwalk and walk around, trampling precious plant life.

Recommendation: NPS should create signage every human can understand.

Further along the scenic drive we encountered people heading out to sled the dunes — in the designated area. There, Bill enjoyed a climb to the top of a dune.

We loved attempting tricky snow mirage pics, but for the most part, WSNP is not photogenic. We discovered that the sand up close wasn’t that white, while the shots we aimed into blowing gypsum tinted grayish or pinkish.

Official White Sands NP info:

News feed from White Sands NP:

• Fossilized Footprints Reveal Human Habitation of the North America Thousands of Years Earlier than Previously Thought
• Fossilized Footprints Reveal Human Habitation of North America Thousands of Years Earlier than Previously Thought
• Fatality in White Sands National Park
• Tourism to White Sands National Park creates $26.0 million in Economic Benefits Report shows visitor spending supports 309 jobs in local economy
• National Parks Dig into National Fossil Day on October 14