More Zig-Zagging

We just can't seem to keep from straying off our route when something interesting catches our eye. Last night we were planning to beeline it straight home, but then this morning we took a second look at the map and noticed another National Park that we haven't been to before. It wasn't all that far away from where we were, just not in the direction we were planning to travel. So, instead of heading west towards home, we took a little detour north and headed back into Colorado to check out Great Sand Dunes National Park.

What a gorgeous drive along the way! Yesterday we had just begun to see mountains. Today we were seeing snow covered, alp-like peaks contrasted against the beautiful blue sky . . .




It might seem 'nutts' to drive a hundred or so miles out of our way just to see more sand dunes, especially since we had just seen some pretty spectacular ones in Michigan. And a few years ago we were at White Sands National Park in New Mexico, which is absolutely totally amazing. But I have this thing about National Parks, National Monuments, etc. There has to be a really special reason why an area has been set aside and protected, and I have to know what's there . . . And this was definitely worth the drive.

As soon as we entered the park, this is what we saw . . .



From this distance the sand dunes might not seem all that impressive. But these are the tallest sand dunes in North America, some reaching 700 feet high. There is a mountain range about 65 miles to the west of these sand dunes, called the San Juan Mountains. Most of the sand came from those mountains, and over time, the blowing winds plus water from the streams, creeks, melting snow and flash floods moved the grains of sand over the valley floor and piled them up and trapped them against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which are the mountains you see behind the sand dunes. The dunes are constantly moving and changing as the wind and water continue to alter their appearance. The age of the dunes is guesstimated to be anywhere from about 12,000 years all the way up to over a million. Research continues.

We drove further into the park to get a closer look at the sand dunes. Imagine the next 3 photos as a panoramic look at the dunes from left to right . . .

Left


Middle


Right

What was totally fascinating to me is that the coloration of the dunes changes constantly as the sun casts shadows onto the sand from the clouds moving across the sky. This next photo shows the middle area of the sand dunes just minutes after the one above . . .

And this next one is just a few minutes later still . . .

I could have stood and watched the color change all day.

There were some pretty cactus flowers blooming in the area also . . .

I have no idea what this one is called



This is Prickly Pear Cactus

There is a stream that runs through the valley floor at the base of the sand dunes called the Medano Creek. It is one of the streams that is responsible for the movement of the sand - it washes the sand away, and then washes it back again. We just had to kick off our shoes and go wading . . .

The water was only about ankle deep at the most and quite warm. You could feel the sand moving under your toes. I wanted to climb the dune, but John was having no part of it. So reluctantly, I climbed back into the car and we left the park.

We started driving west along Hwy 160 which for the most part is a rather narrow, two-lane road, with an occasional passing lane. Soon we were climbing high into the mountains and passing beautiful pine tree forests. On the north side of the road, snow was still trapped at the base of the pine trees - a lot of snow. I couldn't take a photo (darn!!!) because of the narrow, winding road and no place to pull off.

We drove through a tunnel and soon afterwards, we were almost at the tree line . . .

Finally there was a scenic over-look where we could stop. We had passed the areas with the snow, so still no photos of it. Instead we found ourselves looking down into a beautiful valley . . .

Colorado is so gorgeous!!! We continued driving, passed over the continental divide at approximately 10,000 ft. and then started descending, passing through small towns and driving along pretty little rivers and streams.

We stopped for the night in Durango where my cousin, Tom, lives. Unfortunately, our timing is awful because he is out of town doing a "Relay for Life" cancer walk in New Mexico. Had I known we would be in this area right now, I would have signed up to do the walk with him. But since we hadn't planned on coming this way, there was no way to know. Oh well.

Tomorrow we will be heading home for sure because once we pass Flagstaff, we will be back on ugly Hwy 40 with nothing to distract us but sagebrush. Guess that's a good thing!