Great Sand Dunes N.P.

We were both extremely disappointed to discover last night that our Verizon phones worked just fine in Blanca, but they offered zero internet access. We found out just how much we depend on the world wide web!So, first thing this morning, we drove back to Alamosa to the McDonald's. It was a beautiful morning and we sat outside at a picnic table where we were able to log onto McD's free wifi. Thanks Ronald! I sent a quick message to ya'll to let you know we were incommunicado for a while and Doug caught up on his game.


After a quick sandwich, we drove back behind a line of mountains to the Great Sand Dunes N.P.

It's 20 miles from the highway to the visitor center where we got our National Park Passport Book stamped with the official seal, enjoyed the displays and walked a short, interpretive path explaining the formation of the dunes.


The sand dunes cover 30 square miles and at the tallest point rise 750 feet from the valley floor. The shadows from the clouds (it wasn't cold!) made for some great pictures.

We followed the crowds to the entrance to the "play" area but decided that it wasn't our cup of tea. Instead, Doug found out about the Medano Pass primitive road that leads to the back of the dunes.


About a mile into the road we came across this sign which explains why there are very few vehicles and people here. From this point on, only four wheel drive vehicles can proceed. While Doug was letting air out of the tires, down to 15 lbs, a couple of young men came walking out of the area. They had ignored the sign and were stuck in the deep sand less than a quarter mile along the road.

We had no way of towing them out but let them use our phone to call the ranger. They were given the numbers of the local tow companies and after I showed them the above sign (minimum $400 wrecking fee) they decided to figure out how to get the car unstuck themselves. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later they drove out and thanked us profusely.

Now, I was nervous! But there's no talking Doug out of a challenge.

With the Jeep in four wheel drive (low) we proceeded through the sand along the primitive road. About a mile in, we came to the area known as the Sand Pit. Doug kept going, slipping and sliding like in the snow. But the car did it's job and we reached a pullout called Castle Creek.


What a neat place!


We waded across the Medano Creek which was very shallow and were at the base of the dunes. I immediately started to climb but it's so steep and shifty that I kept sinking and sliding back down. There was only one other family there so we felt like we had the place to ourselves.

We decided not to continue along the road since it was getting late and I still wanted to visit Zapata Falls. The car navigated the sandy road back just fine and we headed back to the highway.

The road straight up the mountain to the falls was terrible and when we got to the top, the elevation was 8100 feet. The hike to the falls was half a mile and uphill. We passed. It was hot, hard to breathe and a mile hike just seemed too much. We took pictures and drove back down. Maybe another time.....