Although we've never been big fans of the sand dunes, we somehow found
ourselves there this weekend. Going with friends (even after spelling
out our dislike for the dunes), they nonetheless still found a camp
spot right in the sand (White Sands camp ground).
The weather was terrible. We only had half a day without rain, snow, sleet or hail. We had to make every minute count and went riding and exploring as much as the cold wet weather would allow.
While on a quick morning outing (30 mile round trip), those of us riding discovered an abandoned settlement of some kind. It must have been hastily abandoned a few years ago, because clothing, books, bills (some in Dutch) and two pickup trucks were still there.
En route to Eureka (or so we thought):
Wife, youngest son Nick, Neice (Megan) and her friend
The lovely wife (she hates cameras and is very camera-shy):
Me, of course:
One of the abandoned trailer homes found:
Now, it's not unusual to find abandoned dwellings in the desert, but it is unusual to find them still loaded with clothing and other personal effects. These still had toys, kids bikes, clothes, food, kitchen-ware and two pick-up trucks. Also scattered throughout were books on astrology, generating solar power and various science studies.
Closets still full of clothes. Vermin have thoroughly invaded the location:
Yet more personal stuff laying about:
The neice and her friend were clearly spooked by this location:
On Sunday, a group of friends wanted to be led to this location. The weather was looking grim, but we pressed on anyway. About 3/4 of the way to the location, we entered a cloud layer and it began to rain, then snow and finally hail. I turned the group around and had to stop, setup an emergency fire and get everyone somewhat warm and dried out:
After a grueling 45 minutes of driving through rain, hail and snow we finally made it back to camp. Everyone (myself included) were tired, wet and miserable.
An hour or two later, the weather broke, a bit of sun peeked through and I decided to ride to the mountain to the South of Little Sahara.
Here's our camp or RV/5th Wheel trailers:
The mountain to the South, overlooking Little Sahara:
Overlooking Sand Mountain and the dunes:
All in all, and even though the weather was gloomy cold and rainy - it still beat sitting around the house over the weekend. I hope to get back out to this area and explore the Jericho area to the North of Little Sahara. Seems there still much to be seen and many trails to be enjoyed.
And.. I'm still no fan of the sand dunes!
The weather was terrible. We only had half a day without rain, snow, sleet or hail. We had to make every minute count and went riding and exploring as much as the cold wet weather would allow.
While on a quick morning outing (30 mile round trip), those of us riding discovered an abandoned settlement of some kind. It must have been hastily abandoned a few years ago, because clothing, books, bills (some in Dutch) and two pickup trucks were still there.
En route to Eureka (or so we thought):
Wife, youngest son Nick, Neice (Megan) and her friend
The lovely wife (she hates cameras and is very camera-shy):
Me, of course:One of the abandoned trailer homes found:
Now, it's not unusual to find abandoned dwellings in the desert, but it is unusual to find them still loaded with clothing and other personal effects. These still had toys, kids bikes, clothes, food, kitchen-ware and two pick-up trucks. Also scattered throughout were books on astrology, generating solar power and various science studies.
Closets still full of clothes. Vermin have thoroughly invaded the location:
Yet more personal stuff laying about:
The neice and her friend were clearly spooked by this location:
On Sunday, a group of friends wanted to be led to this location. The weather was looking grim, but we pressed on anyway. About 3/4 of the way to the location, we entered a cloud layer and it began to rain, then snow and finally hail. I turned the group around and had to stop, setup an emergency fire and get everyone somewhat warm and dried out:
After a grueling 45 minutes of driving through rain, hail and snow we finally made it back to camp. Everyone (myself included) were tired, wet and miserable.
An hour or two later, the weather broke, a bit of sun peeked through and I decided to ride to the mountain to the South of Little Sahara.
Here's our camp or RV/5th Wheel trailers:
The mountain to the South, overlooking Little Sahara:
Overlooking Sand Mountain and the dunes:
All in all, and even though the weather was gloomy cold and rainy - it still beat sitting around the house over the weekend. I hope to get back out to this area and explore the Jericho area to the North of Little Sahara. Seems there still much to be seen and many trails to be enjoyed.
And.. I'm still no fan of the sand dunes!
