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White Sands National Monument is two hundred and seventyfive square miles filled with pale gypsum, making it the world’s largest dune field of its kind. The dunes are always advancing, constantly changing, swelling, crest, and moving.

White Sands National Monument

The dune field is home to a unique flora and fauna that have adapted to this harsh environment for a long time. It is also close to the site of the detonation of the first atomic bomb. Surrounded by Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range, fighter planes fill the air at regular intervals, making it a wasteland in which you can never escape the felt presence of man. But footprints disappear overnight, and on windy days, they disappear in a matter of hours.

It is a desolate place, filled alternately with fire and ice, poles that are dramatically demonstrated at dawn and dusk.

Ronny A. Nilsen

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