Sledding The Dunes At White Sands
When: November 11th, 2013
Where: White Sands, New Mexico
Who: Matthew Hengst, Kristen Lindbergh
Pictures: [Matt]
Similar to our quick tour of Biosphere 2 a few days back this was something I've wanted to do for some time now and had just been waiting for an opportunity.
White Sands is a national monument in New Mexico known for its strikingly colored sand. In addition to the usual driving through and taking pictures the major activity for visitors is to go sled down the dunes. Usually while screaming...
Sleds can be bought at the visitors center right at the entrance for $15 or $18 depending on the size and they sell you these little blocks of wax that are supposed to help keep your sled moving. (We tried the wax but didn't see any benefit possibly due to the mix of sand and snow while we were there) You can also sell used sleds back for $5.
Party Jeep Green sled in hand we queued up for the main gate (entry is free with the national parks pass) drove to the end of Dunes Drive and commenced frolicking!
There had been a major storm system in the area a week before hence the mix of snow and sand on the dune slopes. The snow was obviously quite a bit faster but even on pure sand it was a blast!
There were a large number of folks around but plenty of dunes. We hiked back a distance from the nearest parking areas and had a lot better sledding though most folks seemed to stick right by where they parked.
(Notice the wipeout in the lower left...)
We had a blast but only had an hour or two since we were due in Sedona the following morning for the next phase of the 2013 Turktacular. So off we went pausing only for some rather good nearby Mexican food.
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