Skip to main content

Day 36: White Sands National Park

Drove from El Paso, Texas to Santa Fe, New Mexico today, with a stop at White Sands National Park on the way. It is a very unique park, with miles and miles of white sand (actually gypsum). The terrain is mostly flat, the sand dunes are not too high. So, as far as the eye can see, it is bright white all around.  The park is also surrounded by the White Sands missile range. 

It was cloudy when I reached the visitor center. I then set out along Dunes drive that goes about 10 miles, with various vista points and trailheads along the way. A few miles in, the road transitions to just packed sand (gypsum). It was fun to drive on this white sand. 

I parked at the trailhead for the White Sands Backcountry Trail, a short trail to experience walking on the white sand. The trail is not visible in the vast white expanse, you have to look for the red and white poles at regular intervals.

It was not all white and barren, there were a few hardy plants as well.

Half way into the hike, it started raining. It also became very windy. The poncho I was carrying in my backpack, finally got used and came in handy.  I had to abandon my plan to do a second hike and skip some of the vista points. 

It was interesting to return from the hike and find my car parked on the edge of this shallow lake formed by the rain. 

Another challenge today was the lack of superchargers around the national park. I had a choice of either driving an extra 150 miles to get access to a supercharger or to stop at an RV park for a couple of hours. I chose the latter and used the time at the RV park to relax, have a late lunch and walk around a bit.   

It was quite late at night by the time I reached my B&B in Santa Fe. The host lives in one of the rooms in the house, while other bedrooms are for guests. He was quite social and an eclectic personality, with playing piano, singing songs, woodworking, metal sculptures, painting among his pursuits. Here he is posing with his custom cutting boards, hand made artwork using different woods.

 The raw numbers for the day:

  • 388 miles driving, 6500 steps walking
  • 2 Tesla supercharger stops, Level 2 charging at RV park
  • 2 states - Texas, New Mexico

Next:   Day 37:  Great Sand Dunes National Park (Oct 10, 2022)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

USA48 Road Trip: The Whole Story

  The whole story of my road trip across USA in a Tesla, captured in a series of blog posts below. My six-week adventure was from Sept 4, 2022 to Oct 15, 2022.  The links to the blog posts below are in chronological order. Best viewed on a larger screen  of a computer, not on a phone. Click on the photographs in the blog posts to see larger images.   Road trip across USA - Why? What? (July 10, 2022) Road trip in a Tesla - will it work? (Aug 11, 2022)  Day -2: Road Trip Delayed (Aug 27, 2022)  Day 0: Starting Road Trip Tomorrow (Sept 3, 2022)  Day 1: The Adventure Begins (Sept 4, 2022)   Day 2: A drive through Oregon (Sept 5, 2022) Day 3: Mount Rainier National Park (Sept 6, 2022)   Day 4: Reminiscing in Seattle (Sept 7, 2022) Day 5: KOA Cabin in Glacier National Park (Sept 8, 2022) Day 6: Hiking galore in Glacier National Park (Sept 9, 2022) Day 7: Drive from Glacier to Yellowstone (Sept 10, 2022)  Day 8: Yellowstone and G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 5: KOA Cabin in Glacier National Park

  A long drive today from Spokane to the West Glacier KOA Resort, which is close to the Glacier National Park entrance. I had to slow down or stop many times during the drive due to road construction underway at multiple places. There was also a traffic jam to deal with at one place. Lastly, I had go past the most direct route for about 15 miles to get to a supercharger in Superior, MT and then retrace back.  I reached my destination for the day, a cute looking KOA log cabin in a beautiful KOA resort surrounded by mountains. The cabin has electricity, heater, refrigerator and a microwave. Not too shabby, changed my perception of what a KOA kampground is like.  The nearest supercharger from Glacier National Park is over 120 miles away. The primary reason I chose to book at KOA is because they provide access to a NEMA 14-50 220V charger. A timeslot for the single outlet they have needs to be  reserved ahead of time. I was very relieved when all of this worked and my...
3 comments
Read more

Day 14: Enjoyed with Friends in Minnesota

A long drive from Bismarck, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota today. The drive was mostly on the I-94 interstate freeway, so it was very smooth, high speed limits and lots of Tesla superchargers along the way. The first three hours of the drive was through heavy rain, which was for the first time during the trip. It was nice to transition from the dry grasslands of North Dakota to the lush green trees and grasses in Minnesota, the land of 10000 lakes.  During the drive, I reflected a bit on all the different places I had been to over the past two weeks. I have enjoyed each day since it brought something different and unique. However, one thing is sure that my favorite days so far have been the ones in the big mountains of Mt. Rainier, Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Parks. The imposing mountain ranges, snow capped peaks, the lakes, the waterfalls, the rivers and creeks, the tall trees, the fresh air, all combine to create something magical. I can't get enough of it.  ...
2 comments
Read more