White Sands update

[Don Boyd]

Here is the response I received to my query about when the road might be open to the sand dunes area at White Sands National Monument:


The road is open 6 1/2 miles (out of 8). One picnic area is open. It is
difficult to say when the rest of the road will dry up, but it will likely
not be until after spring windy season--maybe by May.

John Mangimeli
Chief of Interpretation
White Sands National Monument
505-679-2599 x 230
john_mangimeli@nps.gov

I have never been to the dunes area before but it is my understanding that the best place to shoot is at the end of the road.

[Jack Fisher]

The windy season is brutal. The car gets sandblasted, and equipment is in peril. I usually wait until later. May is good.
BTW- Thanks, Don for the info.

Jack, in Roswell, NM

[davidb]

I was there during a wind storm with a friend. She took her autofocus Canon camera out into the storm. I kept all of my gear inside.

Within an hour or so, her auto focus lens stopped working.

I've been there several times and if there is a hint of a breeze, my stuff stays in the car. The sand is so fine grain, that it gets into everything.

[Aaron van de Sande]

I have shot there before and I have to disagree. At then end of the dunes there are big rolling dunes and little else. If you are looking for run of the mill shots this is the place to go.
If you start out at the first nature trail there it is much more interesting with trees, yuccas and buffalo grass mixed in with the dunes.

I have never been to the dunes area before but it is my understanding that the best place to shoot is at the end of the road.

[steve_782]

I have shot there before and I have to disagree. At then end of the dunes there are big rolling dunes and little else. If you are looking for run of the mill shots this is the place to go.
If you start out at the first nature trail there it is much more interesting with trees, yuccas and buffalo grass mixed in with the dunes.

I've been there at least 30 times over 25 years and couldn't disagree with you more. If you go to the end of the dune road loop and then hike toward the west, the dunes become huge - on the order of at least 100 feet in height. They're intermixed with playas and range of vegetation being overtaken by the dunes.

If you go north, you get into an area of playas and small dunes with incredible details. The end of the dune loop and and hiking is the ONLY way to really see the dunes.

If you don't like hiking then your comment is applicable. But, once you get 1-2 miles into the dunes everything changes. You need a GPS that will record your trail as it is easy to get lost zig-zagging back and forth through the playas and on top of the dunes. I have taken one with me since 1991 and feel much safer (especially during the full moon when you can stay past sunset).

[Aaron van de Sande]

Really I don't think any area is 'better' than the other. One can spend a day or two in a specific area and not run out of things to photograph...

[Turner Reich]

This thread brings up the question of how to protect equipment from sand, fine or otherwise. Is it best to use a barrel lens on a plain old fashioned view camera instead of that fine shutter and on a precise modern camera?

I have had a shutter ruined by blowing beach sand, in that I had to take it down and clean it out and rebuild it. Not much fun. I even thought of a bag over the entire thing with a clear filter over the lens opening.

I even photographed in the car by opening the window after I was setup and quickly closing it after the exposure.

[Aaron van de Sande]

Actually the sand there is in the form of large granules, so it isn't as insidious as it seems. Part of the geology of the area is that the sands are continually dissolving and recrystallizing in a lake, where the crystals fall apart to make sand again.

White sands is really a unique experience.