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| View of Great Sand Dunes NP |
This is our first extended trip where both Nicida and I are
officially retired. Being retired means
we are leaving on a Monday, when most people are back to their routines.
I have made several improvements in the camper since the
Great Basin trip. I added an inverter so
I am able to work on images and writing for this blog while on the road while memories are fresher. I have added
several small storage pockets for miscellaneous stuff. Employing YouTube I
found an idea for a shower frame modifying it for the camper and adding a curtain.
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| Rio Grande |
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| Rio Grande |
Between Espanola and Taos along the Rio Grande we spot
several rafts floating down-river. It
looks like fun even although there was lots of paddling going on dodging the
many boulders appearing with the lower water level. Past Taos we detour to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
viewing the Rio Grande some 700’ below. There
were no rafts floating in this portion of the river. Our day ended with an overnight stop at the Rio Costilla Park. The park is several miles
south of the town of Amalia, NM but the trip is worth it. Once entering the valley the stream is easily
seen and heard from the road. There are
several pullouts along the road where people can park their cars to fish. Some of the sites were large enough for
camping; so we picked one. Several miles
further down the road there is a formal campground with upwards of thirty sites
along the Latir creek. Most of the sites
have tables and fire rings. Hiking
through a portion of the campground we notice the air is quite clear. The park was empty of campers, and we only saw
a few people fishing.
With an early evening roaring fire we dined on a few S’Mores
finishing the night shooting the Milky Way.
Seeing conditions were good for stargazing although the weather got
quite cool as we took our time adjusting cameras for the ultimate Milky Way photo. The next morning we woke up to 44° and
sunny conditions.
After breakfast and packing we toured a bit more of the Rio
Costilla park before heading north towards Colorado. This area is a large valley; it is too hazy
to tell how large with mountains becoming faint outlines against the white sky.
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| Rio Costilla |
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| Zapata Falls |
On the way to GSDNP we pass Zapata Falls, about 10 miles
south of GSDNP. The road to the falls is
very rocky but a high clearance vehicle can make the almost three mile
trip. From there it’s a half mile hike
up a rocky but doable trail to the stream, then another few hundred feet of
ankle deep water (in August) takes you to the falls. In addition there is a campground of 20+
sites near the trailhead along with a picnic area. I recommend seeing the falls. The sand dunes can be seen from Zapata Falls even
with the haze. Sight of them increases
our anticipation to camp and hike the area.
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| Zapata Falls with mist |
The dunes are immense; the highest tops out at 750’ above
the surrounding terrain. The dune area
itself is over 30 square miles. After setting
up the camper we stop for lunch planning out our afternoon hike into the
dunes. The campground is full; we made
reservations only a few days before, grabbing one of the last available sites. Looking out from our campsite we see little
specks moving up, down and around the dunes -
people. The ones that make it to
the tops of the dunes are barely visible due to the distance.
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| Campground visitors |
After an early dinner we embark on our dune hike. The sand is light brown and soft; nothing at
all like the gypsum dunes at White Sands National Monument. Part way into our hike had me thinking how
much easier it was to hike the hard packed dunes of White Sands. The day is cloudy with thunder rumbling off
to the east. Nicida works her magic by telling
the rain to go elsewhere – it does. We
follow the ranger’s instructions staying close to the ridgeline of the dunes, it
is not always possible but where it is the hiking is a bit easier. We take at least one extra step for every
three. The soft sand gives way as you
push off that foot for the next step.
Step, sink, step, sink, repeat…
The curves of the dunes, patterns of the windblown sand and subtle tonal
variations are a delight to see. I am
amazed finding grasses or any other type of vegetation growing under these
seemingly arid conditions. |
| Close view - people |
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| Wide view |
Approaching the top of our dune the ascent gets steeper
consequently our plodding goes even slower… with every step… we sink even
deeper… into the soft sand… The fact that
our hiking boots are heavier doesn’t help our cause; they are freely collecting
sand with each step. Along the way up
the winds come and go. Two minutes of
wind; with blowing sand swirling over the ridges; followed by several minutes
of still air. Getting to the top we see
multiple layers of sand dunes wherever we look.
Stopping to admire the view we again hear thunder off in the
distance. The wind picks up again but
this time it doesn’t stop; we are in a low grade sand storm. Tightening the straps on our hats; even
holding the brim against our head attempting to keep sand out of our eyes and
ears we start back down. The wind
continues with stronger gusts through our entire descent, all the way to our
campsite. At one point while still on
the dunes we stop, dropping to our knees, with our backs to the wind for a
brief respite making sure we are both up for the remainder of the descent. Our boots are getting tighter, much tighter
than when we started; the sand is taking up all of the open space inside our
shoes. We get a brief break from the
wind at the bottom of the dune field on the lee side of a tall dune. At the bottom we are just concentrating on
putting one foot in front of the other making our way back to our camper, out
of the wind. We are exhausted upon
arrival… Relaxing back at our campsite I think I know what it’s like to be sand
blasted. We each empty about a half cup
of sand from our hiking boots. The hike
was worth it. |
| Blowing sand |
The next day we hike in a different direction for an overall
view of the dunes. We still see many
people hiking across the dunes, some making it to the top of the highest
one. Our dune excursion yesterday was
enough for this trip, next time we stop we will make another attempt. There are many types of flora on the edge of
the dune field. They are holding on,
some trees have died; lying in the sand slowly being covered up. Grasses are flourishing with their long roots
burrowing into the sand finding the shallow water table to their liking. |
| sand blasted tree |
Early afternoon we hike to the visitor center, there is a
ranger led drawing class. Talking with
one of the rangers I get details of the Medano Pass road. It exits the GSDNP to the east through the
Medano Pass, a 20 mile track through the national forest. There are several dispersed camping sites
along the road; we also cross Medano creek several times before exiting the
valley. I don’t think I would want to
try fording the creek in spring with high runoff. I have read about it in my FunTreks Guide toColorado Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails road book but didn’t bring the
book on our trip. He strongly suggested I
air down the tires to 20 lbs for a larger footprint to get through the deep
sand. We will have to take the pressure
back to normal once past the sand in order to climb through the rocky pass; I
have my air compressor so that will not be an issue.
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| Medano Pass road |
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| Medano Pass road |
As we pack I start airing down the tires. The unpaved Medano Pass Road starts less than
a mile away from our campsite. Driving
on it another mile or so we pass ‘The Point of no Return’ an ominous sign; 4X4’s
are the only vehicles allowed beyond this point. The road skirts along the dunes for a few
miles before heading up the valley to the Medano Pass where it drops down the
other side before joining Hwy 69. In all
the road is over 20 miles, expected travel time about 3 hours. This is our first excursion on one of these
type of high-pass roads. Once we make it
through the deep sand back on to solid ground I breathe a little easier. Aspen line the road for the first half of
the trip, we hear scraping of the branches on the truck and camper
constantly. At a very narrow spot
between two boulders we could hear the running board scraping a boulder. Nicida had to get out giving me directions so
we could make it through. The road is
rocky, we bounce along for a stretch of road then have smooth sailing for a
stretch when a rocky part starts again.
Overall the ride was long, but very scenic. We saw 7 vehicles along the road over the 20
miles. Fortunately there are pullouts so
one of us could make space for the other to pass. The ride was longer than the advertised 3
hours but we stopped several times to take in the views. We also tried the outdoor shower, it worked
great. We were smelling fresh as we
continued down the road.
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| Medano Pass road |
Once back on a paved road we head towards Colorado
Springs. The valley is quite green as we
are heading north; driving through one last mountain pass we see Colorado
Spring on the horizon. We will be
camping at a friends’ house the next several days.
The haze is thick on east side of the Rockies too. I can only think of how bad it must where the
fires are burning for it to be this bad several hundred miles away.
The next day we visit Garden of the Gods park. We view a short movie explaining how the
terrain has been formed over the past billion years. It was hard for me to comprehend; too much
information over 15 minutes. The
displays inside the visitor center provided much of the same information at a
pace I could understand. The rock
formations are astounding; they stick right up out of the ground only in this
immediate vicinity; the rest of the area is void of these formations. The park is crowded with people of all ages. The brave ones, mostly kids, run off to climb
the kid sized formations. A grandson of
Nicida’s friend came with us for the day; he was one of those wanting to climb
the kid-sized rocks, the large ones too.
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| Dunes at sunset |
We arrived back our friends’ house just before a heavy rain
and hailstorm hit. This was the third
one that hit the Colorado Springs area over the past couple months. The kids had a blast, the hail had to be almost an inch deep on
their trampoline so they jumped on the trampoline with the hail. They came in every few minutes to complain
how cold they were but headed back out a few minutes later to start all over
again.
The next day we went to Manitou Springs viewing the Manitou
incline. It is a staircase ascending
2000’ in a mile, 2744 steps. There was a
race up the incline that day so we were not able to try the extreme
workout. The city of Manitou Springs has
many old homes and other buildings, all were well kept. A drive down main street has an endless line
of coffee, gift, and art shops along with restaurants and micro breweries. We went on to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings a
short distance from the city. Every time
we visit another ancient native site we pick up a bit more information of the
meaning of some of the structures. There
is an extensive cliff dwelling structure partially refurbished so we could
enter the dwellings. There is also a
pueblo structure resembling the Taos pueblo in NM. There is also a gift shop and museum with
even more native items. After several
hours of studying we return to our temporary home.
The next day we have breakfast in preparation of the long
drive back to Albuquerque. The air is
still hazy as we drive south on the interstate. It clears a bit in the northwest corner of NM
but as we progress towards Santa Fe the haze builds. It gets to the point we are not able to see
the Sandia or the Jemez Mountains from Santa Fe. Even pulling into the west side of
Albuquerque the Sandias are just a darker outline against the light gray sky.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
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