White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument (named a National Park later in the month) contains the largest expanse of sand dunes in the U.S. Better yet, they are composed of brilliant white gypsum sand. The park's gates are only open from 7am to 6pm, making it extremely difficult to photograph off-the-beaten-track locations during good early & late light. But there are a few hike-in campsites, one of which I was hoping to secure (it was this intent to camp that drove my preceding efforts to avoid any rain). The one hour drive from the Organ Mountains' westside turned into almost 3 hours as U.S. Hwy 70 was closed for a White Sands Missile Range missile test. Upon my eventual arrival, a campsite was obtained and the afternoon was spent exploring that site's nearby photographic opportunities — I found a few good sunset spots, but no great sunrise ones. And, because it would be a full moon, no starry night shooting was possible either. I then realized that I didn't need to spend the night to capture only sunset shots — after the 5 pm sunset, I was able to hike the mile back to the van and drive out of the park just before the 6pm gate closure.

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