Blinding white in all directions. Footprints erased by wind. Every route the same.
Driving south from Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico the land greets us with open arms. Ranges and ranches go on for miles. I can breathe. I can see.
The chaos of Alamogordo gives way to White Sands National Park, sitting pristine at the northern end of the Chihuahuan desert in the Tularosa Basin. Shining clean and bright, like the full moon against dark skies.
Once a lake, the Tularosa Basin is now home to 275 square miles (176,000 acres) of beautiful, white gypsum dunes in the form of a national park. Gypsum draining from the surrounding mountains, nowhere else to go but into the basin. Turning this ancient lake into fields of white over thousands of years.
But gypsum is really a clear substance, only appearing white as the grains collide and reflect the sun. The air and sun bake, and unlike sand on a beach – the ground here remains cool. Conflict and abrasion come out clean and beautifully blinding.
There are no horse trails at White Sands, so keeping direction in mind and park road to the right, I ride this sweeping face. Each dune looking like the last. Weaving my way out and back again. Cell phone overheating in my pocket. Polarized sunglasses glued to my face, threatening blindness with each slip and readjustment.
A seemingly endless stream of waves. However, blank slate this is not.
Once a lake the size of Rhode Island, the Tularosa Basin looked very different 12,000 years ago. Lush, green landscapes flushed with life, including mammoths, giant sloths, ancient camels, dire wolves, and saber-toothed cats. White Sands contains the largest collection of ice age fossilized footprints in the world, including the longest fossilized human trackway.
Spectral signs of the past. Almost a mile of an out and return journey. Disappearing then reappearing, as the landscape alters. Hidden under layers of sand. Unrevealed to the casual observer.
Crossing this bleached ocean, I am reminded of my vulnerability… of what matters. Drama has no place here. The air can be dangerous, the sun merciless. Death quick when water runs low and heat is high.
But a different type of beauty lives among these dunes, a private affair between white sheets of gypsum and ancient lives. A secret between the two. Unknown, but always present, just beneath the surface.
For information on day rides at White Sands National Park: https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/horses-and-other-pack-animals.htm
https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/news/nr100920.htm
To follow Shannon’s horseback stories and more, visit http://www.confessionsofasaddletramp.com or find her on facebook @ConfessionsofaSaddleTramp
Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition 