Sunday, October 9, 2022

The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Fall



A distant view of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado as we drove up to visit them. They are the highest sand dunes in North America and quite an amazing sight to see!  The dune field encompasses 30 square miles (7.77 square meters) and at its highest is 750 feet (228.6 meters). This was our second visit to see them since moving to Colorado. Our first visit was in Spring and this visit was in Fall, both wonderful times of the year to view the dunes. My first blog post about our drive to see them in 2016 and our first impressions can be read on this link.  My part two blog post about our attempt to climb up a dune and also a video of the sound of the wind that was blowing across the dunes can be read on this link.




The dunes and surrounding area were designated a National Monument in 1932. In the year 2000, United States President Bill Clinton signed the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act. The federal government purchased 97,000 acres of the Baca Ranch which tripled the size of the park and preserved the land and water drainage for future generations to enjoy.






Earlier, we had hiked to the top of nearby Zapata Falls --click here--to read that blog post, so it was already close to the closing hour of the visitor center, but we stopped in anyway.





There are wonderful panoramic views of the sand dunes from the visitor's center back porch.



The dunes are believed to be 440,000 years old in the high-elevation desert of the San Luis Valley at 7,694 feet (2,345 meters).  The dunes were formed by the right combinations of wind, water, and sediment. Creeks and streams brought large amounts of sediment and sand into the valley.  The wind then blew the sand toward the bend in the Sangre de Christo Mountains, where opposing storm winds helped squeeze the sand into the tall dunes seen today.  




Please click on the photo above to enlarge it.


We were surprised to see Medano Creek, which runs in front of the sand dunes was still running even though it was October.  In spring snow melt from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains makes this creek run strong 


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If you look at this YouTube--click here--from the National Park service you can see how the creek looks in spring--it actually has waves!



The size of the people standing in front of the dunes gives a better perspective as to how enormous they are!  Often visitors rent special sandboards from local vendors and slide down the dunes. You can learn more about that on this link.


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They are truly a wonder!

Recently, exciting news was announced that The United States Department of the Interior and The Nature Conservancy announced that TNC’s nearby Medano-Zapata Ranch will transfer 9,362 acres of land to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.




As we drove out of the park the slant of the setting sun gave the dunes a pretty golden glow,

We were happy to have seen them again!

 


My husband and I were staying in the town of Alamosa that night--it is about 30 minutes away from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and we had dinner at a newly opened Italian-style restaurant called The Friar's Fork that I read about in the Colorado Magazine 5280 at this link.  The husband and wife owners had worked for many top restaurants and resorts and wanted to open their own place. They found a deconsecrated 1926 Episcopalian church that had been empty for a couple of years, bought it, and renovated it into a restaurant and cafe. Our meal was so delicious!  I had the Chicken Marsala and my husband had a special, Beef Osso Bucco.  It was the perfect early anniversary celebration for us!

The next day we were headed south to the town of Antonito, where we had a reservation to take a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, called by USA Today Magazine "The Best Train Ride in America".  I will blog about that train ride next week.

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Monday, October 3, 2022

A Hike to Zapata Falls


 

Last week my husband and I decided to take a quick trip to Southern Colorado to see some iconic sights as an early anniversary celebration. We usually like to wait until early October to do a long drive as fall arrives early in Colorado and the aspens begin to turn gold. Autumn is my favorite season as I love the cooler temperatures and beautiful colors of nature.



We drove past Pikes Peak also known as "America's Mountain" 

Pikes Peak is a 14,115-ft. pink granite peak featuring hiking trails with stunning views, climbing & campgrounds.  You can read a post about our first drive up to the mountain's summit on this link, and our last trip in 2021 when many changes were taking place at the summit--click here--to see that post.




As we continued driving south we finally reached the San Luis Valley which is rimmed by the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. A view of Mount Blanca is above,  It is the fourth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and at 14,351 feet (4,374 m) it is the highest summit of the Sangre de Cristo Range.  

I blogged about this beautiful peak in a prior post, in which I also explained why Navajo Native Americans consider the peak sacred--click here--to read that post




We could see some colorful aspens on some of the mountains' higher elevations.





We visited this part of Colorado a few years ago but did not have a chance on that trip to hike up to see Zapata Falls, so this time we wanted to accomplish that task. We soon approached the Zapata Falls Recreation Area. 

Zapata Falls is a waterfall located near the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on Bureau of Land Management land adjacent to Rio Grande National Forest and south of Great Sand Dunes National Park.





As we drove up the road leading to the parking lot beyond the Zapata Falls Campground area we had a wonderful view of a part of the San Luis Valley.

The San Luis Valley is over 50 miles wide and over 100 miles long, at 8,192 square feet (21,000 km) with an average elevation of 7,664 feet (2,336 m) above sea level. It is larger than some American states!



Please click on the collage above twice to enlarge it fully for an easy view of the placard information at the trailhead.

We parked our car and began to hike, passing the informational signs above.  They explained that the hike ahead would be a half mile each way, and have a 400-foot elevation to 9,400 feet. They also explain how the area is a moraine formed by a glacier two million years ago.


Please click on the collage  to enlarge it for a full-view

The hike up was very rocky and soon followed alongside the South Zapata Creek





At certain points, the cold creek had to be crossed over to continue the hike.





As you can see and hear in my video above the creek water was running fast and loud!






It was slow going for us as we were trying to be very careful not to fall on the slippery rocks. I did fall once but was able to recover quickly without getting too wet.





We saw younger and more agile hikers taking different approaches along the rock walls of the slot canyon. At one point my husband thought we should turn back, but I was determined that since we came this far we should keep going.





We were glad we did keep going! 

As you can see from the video above the thunderous 25-foot-long waterfall was pounding down inside a slot canyon.  Be sure to look all the way to the top.  We felt we could not go in any further to get a full view as the water was cold and getting deeper, so I leaned in as far as possible to get this video on my phone.






This area is just as impressive during the winter months when the falls freeze into an enormous column of ice!  Our daughter did this hike in early spring when the falls were frozen yet still could be heard running underneath the thick ice.




It was exciting for us to have made it this far!





Considering that it was almost October the falls were still fairly full.  I imagine in late spring they would be even more full and really roaring with snow melt!






After recrossing the creek a few times we began the rocky half-mile walk back down to our car 






Again, the view of the San Luis Valley, with the San Juan Mountain Range in the distance was spectacular!  Such wide open flat, yet elevated land!





We also had a view of the Great Sand Dunes National Paek in the distance.  They are the tallest sand dunes in North America!

The dunes cover an area of about 30 sq mi (78 km) and are estimated to contain over 1.2 cubic miles (5 billion cubic meters) of sand.




Please click on the collage above twice to enlarge the 
two informational placards about the dunes at the overlook.






Come back to my blog next week to learn more about the sand dunes--they are a spectacular sight!



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