2006-03-17 White Sands National Monument 04

We got to White Sands and re-encountered Spring Break! Lots of people, but only 2 other backpacker groups, so they have eight sites still open. The furthest site is a little over a mile and the closest one is 3/4 mile from the parking lot. The two furthest ones were taken, so we chose the closest one, site number 10. All the sites are pretty much the same, it's not like one has a better tree on it or anything... it's all sand. Since we have such a short hike and we're really out there to experience a night in the solitude of the white sands, we cooked dinner at the truck before going out and planned on hiking back to the truck for breakfast. Since we weren't eating, we didn't need to bring a cook kit or stove or dinner foods. We just brought some snack bars and lots of water (and a little bit of wine), our sleeping bags and a tent. We got to our site just as the sun was setting. Lots of clouds made for a colorful sunset, but we are supposed to have a full moon. We hope some of the clouds move out during the night. The only lights we see are from the city of Alamogordo. Early evening, we saw and heard several planes flying maneuvers overhead. Hollowman Airbase is next to the dunes. It's kind of cool watching them flying in the dark.