Last night was in the balmy 40's again. I left the San Isabel National Forest this morning and head down CO 165 to Colorado City. From there I 25 to Walsenburg and then CO 160 to CO 150 and the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. I spotted two young mule deer bucks by the roadside and two separate does almost ran into me later.
It's 16 miles up CO 150 to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. On the way in I saw a sign for the Zapata Falls Recreation Area. A bumpy ride along 2 miles of washer board road brought me to a parking lot. A half mile hike ended at a little stream gurgling over a few rocks. I guess its a big deal because its on the edge of a desert.
I did get my first look at the Great Sand Dunes. They rise up to 750 feet at the base of the 14000 foot Sangre de Cristo Mountains (the southern Rocky Mountains). The vast San Luis Valley lies beyond.
My Golden Eagle Passport got me into the National Monument. The dunes seemed a mile or two in length, but cover 39 square miles and are the tallest sand dunes in North America. High winds blow sand from the Rio Grand flood plain across the valley. When the winds hit the mountains, they slow down, dropping their load of sand before continuing through the various mountain passes.
I did a 2 mile (round trip) hike called the Dunes Overlook Trail which gives good views of the dunes from a different angle. On the hike, I noticed a number of hikers out on the dunes themselves. I didn't think it would be much fun trudging through loose sand. A number of backpackers were out also.
I left the sand dunes and continued on CO 160 to CO 17 and then back up to Salida again. Why? Well, there really wasn't anyplace else to go and I did have to go north to meet with friends next week. As I drove up CO 17 though, I had the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains 15 miles across the valley on my right and the almost as rugged La Garita Mountains another 15-20 miles across the valley on my left. From this distance I could also see the Great Sand Dunes 15 miles away and they still looked big. Great views.