All the years we have been part-timing/extended/full-time RVing we have not come across as much rain as this trip. Thank goodness no leaks, we are safe, and we are able to do some sightseeing during the sparse intermittent sunshine. Yesterday's weather forecast was a go to get to Great Sand Dunes. We are just 6 miles from the road that leads into the park, but I could not figure out where and how we got over Mt. Blanca to see them. Dah - drive around the base of the mountain. Elevation at the dunes visitor center was 8166 feet, we are camping at over 7800.
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| Crossing Medano Creek to get to dunes |
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| Big Dunes! |
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| Look closely - people look like ants! |
What is truly amazing - the sand dunes are the tallest in North America and located here in Colorado! The dunes cover 30 square miles and to see the dunes up close is when you get the full picture as to how tall and big they are. Mountains form a ring around 3 sides of the dunes where the prevailing southwest winds push the sand up the slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and then the easterly winds force the sand back down. There was a picture in the visitors center that showed the dunes in 1898 and then now, the shape and size has not changed. Snow run off from the mountains flow down around the base of the dunes and flow around it and beyond. At times you could see pulsating waves in the Medano Creek that we crossed, a phenomenon that they are still trying to figure out. Another amazing fact - this whole area only gets 7 inches of rain/snow a year. And yet, lush vegetation. This area sits on top of a large aquifer (underground water). Water seeps down into and around the dunes and then resurfaces miles to the south in lakes and wetlands.
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| How dunes were formed |
Lots of people, many with boards to surf down once they climbed up. School busses loaded with kids - the parks have a great program for kids to learn about the dunes.
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| Have cardboard, will surf |
After walking a little up the dunes (my foot could not take the rolling of the sand - hurt pretty good), we drove to the Montville Nature trail which is located at the base of the mountain and it follows an historical walk up into the canyon and explains how in the 1870s a flourishing business in a toll road targeted at pioneers who wanted to take a short cut over the mountains versus going all the way around the mountain. Kinda spooky in one spot when we could hear a horse snorting and then eventually saw the hoof prints in the dirt when we got back to the car, this trail also is a horse trail, one of many in the park.
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| Remember to do this! (They don't know about Buddy and Grace.) |
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| Nature trail |
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| Burbling brook along trail |
No problem hiking in over 9000 feet - I guess we have become acclimated.
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| Look at these elevations! |
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