Friday, October 20, 2023: On our way from Carlsbad to Alamogordo, out in the middle of nowhere, we stopped for a few goodies at Tom & Pam Runyon Ranches, with its funky vibe and “non-gun-free zone.” We ended up buying pickled quail eggs since, according to Tom, they have health benefits such as reversing dementia!
Cloudcroft
As we ascended into the mountains toward Cloudcroft, we found some beautiful yellow and red trees interspersed among the pines.
We stopped at Cloudcroft, a village at an elevation of 8,676 feet (2,644 m) in the Sacramento Mountains in Otero County within the Lincoln National Forest. Although it’s an arid region, its high elevation allows for a mild summer and forested surroundings that makes it a popular tourist attraction in southern New Mexico. It was named by Fodor’s in 2002 as the Number 3 “Most Overlooked and Underrated Destination Spot.”
We enjoyed walking around the charming town, dipping into shops and cafes.
After spending time in the town, we drove just out of town to the climbing rail trail of the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railroad, completed in 1899. It was the highest standard gauge railroad in the world in 1900. Passenger service on the rail line ended in 1930. From the trail, we had fantastic views of the Sacramento Mountains and White Sands National Park, our destination for the day.
White Sands National Park
We arrived in the afternoon at White Sands National Park, originally designated White Sands National Monument on January 18, 1933 by President Herbert Hoover. Since 1941, the park is completely surrounded by the military installations of White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base. It was redesignated as a national park by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019. It is the most visited NPS site in New Mexico, with about 600,000 visitors each year. The Visitor Center, a great example of “Pueblo-Revival” architecture, was constructed in 1938.
We took a drive from the visitor center to the heart of the dunes, stopping first at the Interdune Boardwalk (2000 ft/ 600 meters). The sand was surprisingly cool on quite a hot day.
The park covers 227.8 square miles in the Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a 275 sq. mi. field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. This gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth, with a depth of about 30 feet, dunes as tall as 60 feet, and about 4.5 billion short tons of gypsum sand.
When the Permian Sea retreated millions of years ago, it left behind deep layers of gypsum. Mountains rose and carried the gypsum high. Later, water from the melting glaciers dissolved the mineral and returned it to the basin. Today, rain and snow continue the process.
The glue that holds this vast dunefield together is water, inches below the surface.
According to Visit Las Cruces: Gypsum is actually a clear substance. The dunes appear white like snow because the gypsum grains are constantly banging into each other. The scratches then reflect the sun’s rays, making them appear white. Also, unlike silica sand, gypsum doesn’t absorb heat from the sun, which explains why the sand was very cool when we walked across the dunes on this hot day.
Gypsum is readily soluble, which means it will dissolve in water, like sugar or salt. Since the dunes are fully enclosed in the Tularosa Basin, there is no outlet to water of any kind, so the gypsum stays in the monument.
Alamogordo
After visiting White Sands National Park, we stayed at the Classic Desert Aire Hotel in Alamogordo. As we were leaving the hotel to go to dinner, we came across a blazing coral sunset on the horizon. We shared a pizza at Pizza Patio, sitting outdoors on a pleasant evening. I enjoyed a margarita in a cute cactus 🌵 glass, while Mike had a beer.
Steps: 6,900; Miles 2.92. Drove 198.1 miles. Weather Hi 88°, Lo 58°.
Saturday, October 21: Leaving Alamogordo, we decided to take the scenic route to Santa Fe, driving into the mountains and into the town of Ruidoso. Of course I had to stop and take a picture of the world’s largest pistachio just north of the town.
The McGinn family started their 90 acre pistachio orchard in 1980. Today, the orchard contains over 12,500 trees. Pistachio Tree Ranch also grows 14 acres of grapes and McGinn’s Arena Blanca Winery on site also makes 18 different varieties of wine. In 2008, a memorial to the founder, Thomas McGinn, was built by his son. It is a 30-foot pistachio monument and is the World’s Largest Pistachio.
A bit further up the road, before we forked up to Ruidoso, I found a fetching mural at Tularosa.
Tularosa mural
Ruidoso
On our way from Alamogordo to Santa Fe, we stopped at the mountain resort town of Ruidoso, which lies in the Sierra Blanca mountain range of south-central New Mexico where it merges with the Sacramento Mountains to the south. Ruidoso is close to the slopes of Ski Apache, the Mescalero Apache Tribe-owned ski resort on Sierra Blanca, an almost 12,000-foot mountain. Ruidoso is the largest community in Lincoln County, and serves as the regional economic hub.
The village received its name from the Rio Ruidoso (Spanish for “Noisy River”), a small stream that weaves through the city.
We spent a couple of hours wandering through the town and stopping in many cute shops, where I did a bit of damage shopping-wise. It was a very charming and bustling town.
Here’s a little drive through of White Sands and the mountains outside Ruidoso.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
When we left Ruidoso, we were on our way to Santa Fe, another 3 1/2 hour drive.
We arrived at and moved into our Santa Fe AirBnb, a very nice casita attached to a beautiful two-story adobe home. It even had a hot tub. It was an easy 20 minutes from the center of Santa Fe in the El Dorado neighborhood. We loved this place & its surroundings.
Our first night in Santa Fe, we had to wait an hour and 15 minutes to get into the popular La Choza. While waiting, we enjoyed margaritas outdoors on the patio and chatted with a young woman named Brooke who had relocated to Santa Fe from the D.C. area with her ex-partner. She was super friendly and since she was alone we invited her to have dinner with us.
At her recommendation, I ordered a Stuffed Sopapilla with veg-refried pinto beans, smothered with cheese and green chile. Mike had a Chile Relleno Plate: Two whole roasted green chiles stuffed with Monterey jack cheese, coated in house batter, fried to a golden brown then covered with green chile.
We enjoyed our time with Brooke. When we told her we’d been separated for seven years and then got back together, she wanted to know all about that experience. She seemed to think she and her ex might eventually get back together but she wasn’t ready yet. I think she needed time and space to explore.
She highly recommended that we try out Harry’s Roadhouse while we were in Santa Fe, and that we sit on the patio.
Sadly I didn’t take any pictures except of my sopapilla and the Ristras (chili peppers 🌶️) strung up around the patio area.
Steps: 6,381; Miles 2.7. Drove 276.8 miles. Weather: Hi 75°, Lo 52°.
Jo’s Monday Walk: Setenil de las Bodegas
~ wander.essence ~ 
Thanks, Cathy! Those gypsum sands are so beautiful.
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Thanks Jo! They are beautiful and I didn’t want to walk barefoot on them because it was so hot outside, yet when I did, the sand was refreshingly cool. It was bizarre!
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Sounds weird but rather wonderful. It’s already up to 30C here by lunchtime. Unusually hot for this time of year. It’s Corpus Christie and a national holiday here today and the beach will be busy, or I’d be very tempted to go 😚🔥🩵
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It is rather strange for sure about that sand.
Wow! It is summer there now for sure. Meanwhile, though we had hot temps last week, last night a cool front moved in and it is perfectly pleasant today, around 60 degrees F (15C) and will get up to 74F (23C). Just my kind of weather!! We just had Memorial Day weekend here, a holiday as well, and we didn’t do much of anything. I hate battling crowds, so I understand your hesitation in going to the beach on Corpus Christi. I hope you can keep cool! xx
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Your photos of the gypsum sands are amazing and I love the autumnal colour of the trees.
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Thank you, Carol. White Sands is really otherworldly and autumn in New Mexico is very pretty indeed! 🙂
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The sands do look gorgeous, in fact everything does – except possibly the world’s biggest pistachio! I think I could live without seeing that.
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Yes, we could have done without the world’s largest pistachio. Mike rolled his eyes when I wanted to stop there. I do always love to capture the kitschy things that line U.S. highways and byways. A lot of corny people have a lot of corny ideas!
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