This was probably our most favorite stop of last year’s trip even though last year it was extremely windy and cold. Since it wasn’t windy when we got up we thought it would be a great place to go today as the sand would be very easy on Wazzu’s sore feet.
As it turns out, this area of New Mexico had record rainfalls this past summer. They got more rain this past summer than they normally get in five full years! Therefore, much of White Sands was flooded. The part we went to last year which was way out in the dunes is closed due to the flooding. So we had to stay closer to the front of the park.
It is Spring Break down here and there were hundreds of people and kids. They would rent these saucers from the park office and then slide down the dunes. We found it fascinating that there are literally miles of dunes yet all these people were playing on the dunes right next to the parking lot. So the kids would climb the dunes and slide down right into the parked cars. And of course they’d plow into other people as you can’t really steer those saucers to well. The dunes right next to the parking lot looked like they were covered with ants.
Needless to say, that didn’t look like our kind of fun. So we hiked out into the dunes away from all the people. We had miles of space all to ourselves.
Because of the rains there was still some minor flooding in the area we were allowed to be in. So if you were to look at our pictures from last year (where you could see only sand forever) and compare them to pictures this year you would see a huge difference as this year there is some vegetation and some water.
Due to the water in the low areas and the sky being cloudy there were a lot of mirages.
There were many times when we couldn’t tell if we were looking at sand or at water.
It is so weird – your mind goes back and forth from being sure it must be sand to thinking it may be water. There were times we had to walk right up and touch it before we were sure.
And, even more difficult, was when we got way out into the dunes we couldn’t see any levels. In other words, if we looked off into the distance we could clearly see the outlines of all the dunes and see which were tall, short, steep, gently sloped, etc. But if we were just looking where we were everything looked flat. So we would be walking along thinking we were on a flat area and suddenly we would fall right off the edge of a dune and be zooming down a steep cliff. The sand was very soft so we didn’t get hurt at all but it was such a weird sensation as we just couldn’t see any outlines at all.
In actuality in this picture there are MANY very high and low dunes - many different levels and shapes. And the closer we looked to us the less we could actually see.
We’re not sure if it was the water being around or what but in some of the areas it would sound as though we were walking (or in the dogs case, running) on big bass drums. At first we though maybe some of the dunes were hollow. But no one was falling through. I wish pictures had sounds so I could share that with you as it was unlike anything we’ve experienced before.
Okay, on to our fun. We had been at a trial the last two days and I don’t know about the others of you that do agility but we find our dogs have more energy on the Mondays after trials than any other day of the week. When you think about it, they only run 20-35 seconds per run and only get six runs a day. And where we were this weekend there was no place to really exercise the dogs between runs. So while the dogs may get a little mentally tired they certainly aren’t physically tired.
Normally when we drive, Sparkie rests until we get close to where we’re going then she sits up between the front seats and punches Mike. But today she started punching and whining from the minute we started the car. Finally Mike got stern with her and told her she had to go in back and lie down. She did but she cried the entire way there – which was a little over an hour. We knew this was a bad sign.
When we finally had hiked out far enough away from other people we let the girls off leash. I kid you not, Sparkie ran full out at top speed up and down the dunes and back and forth through the water for at least 20 minutes without ever slowing down.
Up she goes.
Look ma, no paws on the ground.
See ya later.
She would go many many dunes away from us in huge circles. All we would see is this little black dot zooming this way and that.
But no matter what, she would just keep going. Even when she stumbled in the water and did two complete summersaults she didn’t miss a step – she just kept on going. Here she is just getting ready to scoop up a mouthful of water.
Here is the extra water falling out of her mouth.
She just keeps going.....
.....and going.
She really acted like a dog that had been caged up for six months and this was their first taste of freedom. She didn’t stop after 20 minutes by any means but she did slow down to a fast run!
And probably just as surprising was that Wazzu was running around very fast as well. She was chasing Sparkie at times and running up and down the dunes and through the water having a great time.
This was a very steep dune but Wazzu chugged and chugged and made it.
For Mike and I this was a bit of a “hmmm” moment. It was really hot. We were just in t-shirts and we were sweating. And remember, Wazzu can’t do agility in the heat as she is just too hot. But she wasn’t having any trouble running now in the heat. Hmmmm….. I do know that the sand and mud did feel nice on her feet. However, she was really going. So I guess agility just isn’t as motivating as sand dunes! As you can see she had plenty of fun.
Meanwhile, Sparkie is still going!
We kept Slugger on leash most of the time.
Mike did let him off once when we were near one of the water holes. Problem was he just wanted to walk around in the middle of the water – he didn’t want to really follow us.
So as soon as the girls corralled him out of the water, Mike put him back on leash.
Finally at one other point when we weren’t near any water (or so we thought) Mike let Slugger loose so they could play a good game of smash puppy. For those of you that think Slugger would be the aggressor, I show you these pictures that reveal the truth. Poor Slugger has to run for his life as when the girls catch him he becomes a puppy wishbone. Wazzu will pull his back legs while Sparkie gets him around the neck.
Then he gets away, they catch him again but this time Sparkie takes the legs and Wazzu goes for the neck.
This repeats over and over until Slugger is tired of getting beat up. Then when he runs he’ll run straight into us (you have to think quickly when you have three dogs racing straight at you in full speed) wanting us to protect him. But he loves the game and is usually the one to start it when he gets off leash. However, after a while he says “I give!” and runs for the safety of “base.”
He has a little better chance when only one of the girls is after him so often times we’ll hold Wazzu and just let him play with Sparkie.
I took over 350 pictures at White Sands and I’d say Sparkie is running full speed in almost all of them. Mike says he truly can’t ever remember her running this fast for so long. Yup, you guessed it - still going.
And she always had a big smile on her face - even when going straight up a steep dune.
Much to her dismay it was time to leave. She was a filthy mess.
None of them wanted to leave but you could tell Sparkie was really disappointed. One last view of White Sands.
Little did they know they weren’t done for the day. Mike wanted to drive up into the mountains. So we drove up to an elevation of over 9,500 feet and took a hike along the ridge of a mountain.
We were so high up that there was still plenty of snow.
Now it was Wazzu’s turn to be the frisky dog.
She would zoom around in the snow and scoop up big mouthfuls of snow. She would dart this way and that. Now she was the one with the super big smile.
Slugger liked the snow too but found that it really hurt is injured pad.
The snow was hard, crusty, and icy so with each step he was in horrible pain. Poor Mike. The other day he had to carry Wazzu down the canyon and now today he was having to carry Slugger each time we came to the snow. Good thing these dogs have such a nice daddy.
When I say we were on the rim I truly mean it. This mountain was extremely steep and we were right on the very edge most of the time. At times there would be snow on the trail and it would be sloped so we’d have to try to walk on the very edge of the trail with only a few inches to step on. One misstep and it would have been a very long fall down a very steep mountain. Fortunately, we were all very sure footed in the necessary spots. It was a very pretty hike and off in the distance you could see White Sands where we had been earlier in the day.
There was no one up here at all. It was so peaceful, the air was so clean, and the girls were having a great time running and leaping about. More good ab work for Sparkie as she went up and down the very steep hills.
On the way home we went through this very cute little town. While we didn’t buy anything it was a bit out of the past so we took a couple pictures.
You’d think after doing all this Sparkie would be tired. But when we got home she was pestering Mike non-stop. So he took her for about an hour walk to old town Las Cruces. When they got back around 9:00pm she finally settled down. Like Mike said – he certainly didn’t get her tired by any means but at least she should feel exercised.
I think we’ve created a monster. Mike’s gotten her in such good shape that it is impossible to wear her out. And fortunately we seem to have gotten her health problems a little more under control. So she is actually much healthier at seven years old than she was at two or three years of age. In fact, you will be surprised to see that she is at her heaviest weight of her life.
Anyway, a good time was had by all today. We went from white sand to white snow and had great weather the whole day. This is one of those days you just want to bottle and save.
Debbie
3/19/07
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