We got to Sitting Bull a bit too early, since it didn't open up until noon. So naturally I busied myself taking pictures of flowers. I later learned this one is called a 'narrowleaf globemallow'. Whatever it is, its pretty.
Here is Sitting Bull Falls. It is so unusual to me, with all the greenery up top. My favorite part is the sad face to the right of the falls if you look closely :(
We drove through the mountains to get to western NM, including through a ski town called Cloudcroft...look closely, it just got done snowing! We went from 67 degrees to 36 degrees and back to 60 degrees in the next valley. Elevation; its crazy!
This place is a pretty cool phenomenon. In the lowest part of the valley (still 3960 ft above sea level) a 275 square mile area is completely covered with fine white sand dunes made of gypsum in the middle of high desert.
In certain areas it was hard to tell if it looked like sand or snow, especially when it was cloudy, rainy and windy when we first arrived...a sand white out. Its nice to have the sky show up to contrast with the sand now.
Guess I did get to see my jackrabbit after all...slightly disappointing. I also read about some rodent that shoots blood out of its eyes to scare off predators. That's just weird.
Geology lesson of the day: So gypsum dissolved in rainwater runs down the surrounding mountains, ends up in the lower seasonal lake areas, the water evaporates (because it is a desert), forms these crystals, which are really brittle, the high winds break them up and blow them into this dune area where I am standing. Bizarre.
Its all about survival in these parts, as the cute retired volunteers talked about on our sunset hike. This plant sucks up water and forms a tower, so when the dunes move with all the high winds, it still has root protection and the plant stays alive and watered. What a cool place!
Total Miles: 462
Total Gas: $100.57 (way better than towing the beast)
Saying of the day: Where are the jackrabbits?
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