(Site of the first detonation of an atomic bomb)
In October, we drove ninety miles north of Alamogordo, New Mexico to the government's testing site of the first nuclear device. The drive up there was beautiful, lots of hilly twisty roads. The site's only open twice a year due to radiation levels still present, so unlike most trips, this one actually had some kind of structure to it. We got a little bit lost leaving Alamogordo, and no one in any towns nearby was very helpful, or had any idea what we were talking about when we described where we were trying to be and what for. The government offers a tour bus from Alamogordo, and we balked at the idea then, but now I understand why it was there. I still don't think I'd have used it then.
Ground Zero of the site is fenced off in a sort of circle, with a giant marker at the actual exact location the bomb was dropped. There's still remains of the platform that was built to hoist the bomb up for denotation in the form of a twisted square of steel. All over the ground is littered with green fused glass that was created when sand was swept up during the explosion, and fell back down to earth at amazing temperatures. Its found nowhere else on Earth, and therefore is appropriately named Trinite. Its considered a historical artifite and its illegal to take any from the site (nevermind that its radioactive). It was very moving to stand on the actual site of the blast, alongside people that traveled there from all over the world.
After Trinity we went to the Alamogordo Zoo, and then to the White Sands National Park. I was there just two months prior, but enjoyed it very much still, for we were there while the sun was setting, and previously I was there during the early morning hours. The drastic lighting change, paired with the fact that I had a real live human to photograph truly made this site of pictures quite different from the last.
These three are of me, and were taken by Mackenzie
return