November 6
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
After our 8:00 gym class, we packed up for an overnight trip to the southern part of the state. We pulled out of the driveway about 10 am. The drive south was fairly uneventful with lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Pueblo. We took I-25 most of the way south.
Since this area is sandy (obviously) and usually windy (hence the dune formation), I decided to take my older camera instead of my shiny new one, just in case. Turns out I need not have worried about it. It was calm the entire trip.
We arrived at Great Sand Dunes National Park about 2:30 and spent some time in the Visitor’s Center, which is very interesting.
The three photos above were taken on the road approaching the Park entrance. The photos on the left and right show the dune field with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. The center photo shows me taking the photo on the right...
We drove down to the main parking lot for dune access and headed north into the dune field, crossing Medano Creek. Medano Creek’s water flow depends on the snowmelt from the surrounding mountains. This day, there were two active streams (about 3-4 inches deep) and a lot of soggy places. We noticed several people turn back at this point, especially the women in inappropriate shoes....
These are among our first photos of the dune field. The photo on the left shows the dune field with late afternoon shadows. The center photo shows the dune field with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Medano Creek running through the foreground. The photo on the right shows the dunes towering over some visitors. It's real hard to see in this photo, but there's a person at the top of the shadowed dune on the right, just to the right of the sunlit peak.
The tallest dunes are a little over 750 feet tall. These are the highest dunes in North America! We didn’t climb that high, however.
We did head straight into the dune field for about an hour before turning back. The dunes are easiest to climb if you can follow the ridge line. Otherwise, it’s two steps up and one step back!
The three photos emphasis the shadows this afternoon. The photo on the left shows dunes and shadows. The center photo show Carl's and my shadows extending off across the dunes. The photo on the right is almost into the sun and shows the shadows in that direction as well as three tiny visitors.
These three photos were taken along the ridgeline that we climbed. The photo on the left shows me in a wider section of this dune top. The center photo shows the ridgeline with lots of footprints and the dunes beyond. The photo on the left shows Carl along this ridgeline. The crest behind him is as far as we walked...
Three more photos of dunes and shadows making interesting patterns.
These three photos emphasize footprints in the sand. The photo on the left shows footprints along the ridgeline of a dune. The center photo shows a closer view of the ridgeline footprints. The photo on the left shows footprints heading down the side of the dunes.
Since sunset is about 5 pm this time of year, the shadows started forming just before we got there. Lots of good shadows. That is, until it got close to sunset when they all started running together, making solid blobs of shadow...
They say not to forget to turn around when taking photos. The photo on the left is our view as we headed back to the parking area. The photo on the right shows the dune field and lots of footprints in the foreground.
The photo on the left shows some ripples left by Medano Creek. The photo on the right shows the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from the parking area, taken just before sunset.
We got back to the car just before sunset.
And headed into Alamosa for the night. We had delayed our leaving the park sufficiently late enough that we weren’t driving straight into the sun while driving into Alamosa! Yet it was still light enough to see the countryside. Good timing!
We got to our motel a little before 6, checked in, unpacked, and decided on a place for supper. We wound up downtown at a place called the Rialto Bistro. Very good Italian food! We had spotted it on the way through town and wondered if it was any good. It was.
Then back to the motel for showers and early bed. We were pooped!!!