Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is big in many ways with its dramatic dunes, mountains, and vistas. More than that, it holds a big place in my life.
Y’all know by now how much I love Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. I’ve spent a lot of time there enjoying the amazing dynamic landscape that gets the latent geologist in me very excited.
Yes, it’s home to North America’s tallest sand dune, the 750-foot tall Star Dune. And a multitude of 11,000-foot-plus mountain peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range. So it’s “big” in that sense.
But it’s big for me personally as well. I’ve gotten bigger there—growing my outdoor skills and pushing my comfort zone. And working to become a better photographer and writer.
More so than any of that, Great Sand Dunes has been big place for me emotionally. I’ve spent a lot of time there figuring out my life. And healing.
I’ve done a whole lot of big contemplation and growing there in the shadow of those big dunes.
So yes, it’s a damn big place to me personally. It’s quite deserving of the full tattoo sleeve that adorns my right arm. It may be that calling it “big” for me is an understatement.
Peace out!
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Bluesky Art Show
This post is inspired by the Bluesky Art Show, a challenge to share artwork surrounding a weekly themeeach Saturday.
Edges are funny things. They signify the end of one thing and the beginning of another. And which is which depends on which direction you’re looking.
Either way they signify a change—a precipice that can be physical or metaphorical. And crossing over that edge may be positive or negative. It just depends. Life is fucking complicated that way.
The vast majority of visitors to Great Sand Dunes anchor their adventures from the dunes parking lot a little past the visitor center. From there, they head into the dune field and/or play in Medano Creek (when it’s running).
The edge of the dunes there is gentle. Subtle.
But I’ve always loved exploring the edge of the dunes further up. In this area, the boundary of the dunes meets the mountains, not the valley. It’s more dramatic and dynamic.
This is where the creek carves the dunes as they reach the point they can go no further. From here, the water shuttles the sand grains back down to the valley. It’s a great place to understand the dunes more intimately.
I’m a fan of taking stock of my life on my personal new year—my birthday. A birthday seems an ideal time pause and reflect, lest you wake up one day and wonder where the hell your life went.
But I also love the collective enthusiasm that comes with the calendar* new year. We humans measure our time and experience by the calendar. It’s our framework—as damned contrived as it is—and gives us a common metric to use and communicate with.
The shared experience of renewed hope and optimism is fun to be a part of. It’s contagious. Friends reach out with well-wishes, do year-end reviews, and share their plans for the coming year.
I’m not one for news year resolutions, but I do like the thought of a clean calendar to fill with adventures and achievements, just like everyone else.
Wiped clean
That’s the long way of getting to this week’s image—one of many hundreds I’ve shot at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. And it reminds me of the new year, in its unspoiled state.
Every day, people trek into the park and walk up and down the dunes, leaving footprints. The volume grows throughout the day into a giant web, blanketing the dunes.
Then overnight, the wind resets the dunes to their smooth, untrodden state. The new year is the existential equivalent.
And it’s lovely to celebrate it together as we look towards putting the past behind and face a new year fresh with hope for what it will offer and what we can achieve.
Cheers, friends! Happy new year.
Bluesky Art Show
This post is inspired by the Bluesky Art Show, a challenge to share artwork surrounding a weekly themeeach Saturday.
*Yes, there are a variety of different calendars in use in the world but the massive majority of the world uses the Gregorian so don’t nit-pick, ok?
1/2 day driving 220 miles to Great Sand Dunes from Cortez, CO: The drive from Cortez through the San Juans is amazing. Crossing the snowy continental divide then going to desert in a matter of an hour is a surreal experience.
6 1/2 days at Great Sand Dunes: I’ve been relaxing, shooting, hiking a little bit… and enduring very volatile weather.
Immersion in the dunes…
This part of the trip is one of the things I’ve been looking forward to rabidly. The weather has been challenging but it’s allowed me to experience the dunes in a whole new way. Being immersed here for a week has given me a new perspective on the rhythms here.
I was hoping to ensconce myself and not have to return to civilization for my entire stay but I did venture to town for bit to catch up on laundry. That and a great dinner seemed a much better bet than sitting in my tent during yet another thunderstorm with no power to accomplish any work and too cold to partake of any hobbies like knitting.
Overall it’s been an amazing week. From the little things like the constant buzz of hummingbirds to the grandeur of storms in the dunes, I’m a very happy nature nerd. More to come as I process the images and video but for now…
By the numbers this week…
In my first week of travel I covered over 2,000 miles. This week only a few hundred.
Total Days on the Road: 7 (14 total)
Miles this Week: 345 (2,450 total)
States this Week: 2 (AZ, CO) for 11 total
National Parks & Lands visited this week: 1 (Great Sand Dunes National Park)
Like my other favorites, the Great Smoky Mountains and Death Valley, there’s no shortage of intricacies I’d like to explore here.
I managed to score one of the best campsites in the lower loop…
Most people drive by but this tree is like an old friend to me here. I’ve spent many hours in its company.
The Wellington Ditch Trail is an overlooked gem at the park.
All sorts of wildlife visit the campground.
Up Medano Creek…
In between storms, I managed to enjoy some hammock time.
And I do mean storms… the weather has been highly volatile this past week but my tent held tight against the wind, rain, and hail.
I wasn’t quite due for laundry even though I’d been on the road almost two weeks but with nothing to do at camp during the storms I decided to head to town for dinner, supplies, and laundry.
A yummy burger and a good beer at the San Luis Brewing Company were a welcome comfort on a stormy night.
For all of crazy weather I endured, my reward was the most amazing day in the dunes I’ve ever had.
Believe it or not these are happy feet after a great day in the dunes. I may battle the infamous toe issue and a strained achilles but it’s so worth it.
A sunset over the San Luis Valley, complete with deer grazing nearby made for a magical evening.
Don’t forget to follow along on your favorite social media outlet…
The Camp Granola entrance to Great Sand Dunes was anything but smooth. With a few months to ponder my folly I can now laugh at my foibles. In truth, the whole thing went pear-shaped back in the planning stages and I didn’t even know it. One of the problems of not having a traditional schedule is that you forget that most people do have one. The Memorial Day holiday weekend didn’t hit my mental radar until way late in the game or I could have adjusted our travels to avoid it.
This is it folks. This is my paradise, the place I couldn’t miss before heading back east.
Moving forward…
At any rate, after what I can only call a travel wrestling match, I was able to finally enjoy Great Sand Dunes. Our first day included camp setup, tent research, and calls to various REIs around the country trying to get my hands on all the pieces of the tent I picked out. In between all that we got down to Medano Creek for some sand dunes fun.
I was eager to introduce Fred and George to the creek, never before having managed to get them here when it was flowing. They basked in the cool water that insulated their tender feet from the seering sand outside of creek… a day at the beach in the middle of Colorado’s rugged mountains. While they frolicked I broke out my converted 50D to get in some infrared time. The harsh mid-day sun is ill-suited for traditional photography so I love having the IR camera to fill in the gap between the golden hours of light.
All of this delight was just a short walk from our campsite, the hassle of moving from San Luis a faint memory and well worth the effort. The little bit of time we lost moving camp ended up giving me more time to enjoy the dunes fully. When you love a place this much, you need to be in it, not looking through the window.
Fred and George dwarfed by the dunes.
Flashback…
So rewind nearly a year to Camp Granola’s last foray into the joy of Great Sand Dunes. This is necessary to help frame why I was hell-bent on getting a decent few days here this year because last year’s trip ended in disaster for me.
I had allotted us 5 days in the park, our last hurrah of the Geowoodstock to TBEX expedition. Day one involved getting to camp, setting up, running to Alamosa for a long-overdue laundry day, etc. Day two was detoxing from so much driving and just taking it easy knowing we still had several days to hike in the Sangre de Cristos, climb to the top of the dunes, and whatever else we decided. Days three through five should have been more than enough time to feel fulfilled for this visit. Except on Day 3, I had a very bad day at Zapata Falls and all of those plans came to a bone-splitting end. Instead of exploring, I spent three days hobbling around camp (aside from a trip to the ER) in tremendous pain.
Adult playtime… while Fred and George frolicked in Medano Creek, I got to break out the converted 50D and have some fun myself.
Fulfillment, Episode 1…
Unable to climb to the top of Great Sand Dunes last year, I lamented my plight and returned this year to conquer the dunes, albeit now permanently maimed but functional enough. The boys and I chugged up the dunes, aiming for sunset atop the highest one.
Climbing up giant sand piles is fairly strenuous but the boys were determined and I delighted in their vigor for it. We tried to travel light so I carried a small complement of snacks and water but of course, even with my trimmed-down camera gear, the load was stupidly heavy for the task and my current level of road-trip “un”-fitness. I managed though and we played on the dunes, laughing at being sand-blasted.
Alas, I timed us too early. The sun was sinking slowly and the boys had gotten their fill of sand in their eyes. Plus they desperately wanted to slide down the enormous slopes, their reward for hoofing it up the dunes. I tried to stall but in the end set them loose figuring I’d just shoot from the edge of the dunes.
So yes, my longing was requited. Being back up top felt exquisite even if I didn’t get to shoot the sunset.
Yes, it’s very windy up here. And very invigorating.
Fulfillment, Episode 2…
One of my favorite little details of Great Sand Dunes is the gnarly dead tree just outside the entrance. It’s textures and swirls with the dunes in the backdrop just blow me away. Last year I had to shoot it in tremendous pain on our last day there and with a two-day-old throbbing, heinously broken big toe. There were a couple of times I almost passed out squatting low along the roadside to get the right angle… partly due to pain, partly due to sweltering heat. Last year when I left the dunes, I didn’t know I’d have another chance to be back so soon and I was giving it all I had.
What a difference a year makes though. This year not only was my toe as healed as it was going to get, but the temperatures were ever-so-slightly more forgiving and I had a largely revamped photography kit, including an infrared-converted Canon 50D. This meant I didn’t have to sit through long exposures to accommodate the IR filter on the unconverted camera so I was shooting faster, saving a lot of time wallowing on the ground trying to get a shot of this tree. All in all a pretty huge improvement over last year!
The boys missed out last year too. Getting to slide and tumble down the enormous dunes is the highlight of their visits.
Painless education…
Having been to Great Sand Dunes several times at this point in their lives, I had to scramble to find something new to throw at Fred and George to engage them more deeply than just playing in the sand. I try to keep their learning painless and by-and-large their own curiosity drives their discoveries but they do get lazy on repeat visits to places, thinking they know all there is to know as teen & tween are wont to do.
George had already completed the Junior Ranger program here and Fred has largely outgrown the program as a whole so I had to get creative. I set them loose in the visitor center on an educational mini-scavenger hunt for information. Oddly enough, they actually dove in and answered the questions I set them to research. In the dunes themselves I got to let their innate curiosity take over as they questioned the shape of the dunes, watched the sand flow, and raised eyebrows at the patterns created by the flow of Medano Creek.
This is the easy part of experiential education. I could have been sitting in a lawn chair, drinking a margarita, answering a question from time-to-time… one giant science lesson they didn’t even realize they were doing for me. I have to take my victories where I can because let’s face it, getting them here isn’t exactly easy. 😉
I’m a huge fan of this particular visitor center. Great exhibits covering the range of nature at Great Sand Dunes to the history of San Luis Valley. It makes my job so easy!
Reflection…
Like many people, when I find myself in a place of absolute peace, it’s a time to reflect. I was fully aware of the insanity of this undertaking before we set out but given the hectic nature of the first two weeks of this expedition, it was time to step back and ask myself what we were getting out of the effort. I believe in constantly assessing these things to avoid falling into a rut and taking on these adventures because it’s what we do and not because they have value and purpose.
Aimlessly cavorting around the country would certainly be pointless but there were the straight-forward lessons like learning about the sand dunes. Geography lessons were also abundant as we hopped from state-to-state taking notice of changing landscapes and lifestyles. These are all things we discuss in the long hours of driving. In fact, much of our learning happens in the car as we talk and mentally process our experience together.
But beyond the obvious, travel in general requires flexibility and problem-solving. This trip in particular was already proving to be unusually challenging. The boys were getting to see me make (and sometimes struggle with) decisions based upon our situation… some worked out, some didn’t. I almost always involve them in the process so they understand why I chose a particular solution. They often come up with an idea I hadn’t thought of.
To me this may be more important than their exposure to the world at large. Travel is real (sometimes painfully so) and usually fun but sometimes not. It’s unpredictable. Unlike their video games, in travel we don’t get do-overs, we don’t get to push the reset button, we don’t know the cast of characters we’ll encounter, we don’t know what obstacles we’ll face. We just have to make decisions based on the information we have at the time and move forward.
Little did I know how many more challenges were to come on this journey that would continue to test us…
Finally some travel down-time. George cocooned himself in the hammock and read for hours.
And now for your moment of green…
This is way I couldn’t stay on the outside looking in. These textures require immersion…
We here at Camp Granola cover some ground but don’t necessarily get around to sharing all of that with you. Time constraints you know. Plus, many of the great places we’ve been were pre-Val in Real Life. So in an effort to at least share the high points of the places we’ve been…and to quit being a blogging delinquent, I’m going to start posting a short overview of some adventure past and why it’s so awesome that you should go.
Granola Bliss circa 2009
Pure bliss…
This first installment is one of my favorite places in the world, Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. This is a must-visit if you’re even close to the area. For those of you who have visited, you understand the lure of this magical place. For those of you who’ve never heard of it, you are missing out.
Home to the tallest sand dunes in North America, Great Sand Dunes is a bizarre, marvelous place that brings out my inner-geology geek. Nestled into the western edge of the Sangre de Cristo mountains near Alamosa, Colorado, the dunes are held captive by the mountains and framed by the seasonally-flowing Medano Creek. There are other places where dunes meet peaks but pay attention to the difference Medano Creek makes. Discover the joy of surge flow as you play in the sand while surrounded by grasslands and 13,000-foot snow-capped peaks. Granola bliss I say.
There’s another world to discover in the remarkable sand grains of the dunes. I’ll spare you the lecture about what it means and the geologic history it represents but this falls in the ‘wow’ category. More simply, it’s just the prettiest sand I’ve ever seen…and I’ve looked at a lot of sand.
Other groovy activities…
There’s lots to see and do there. Absolutely bring a sled, official or improvised, for sliding down the dunes. If you’re timing is right and Medano Creek is flowing, be prepared to treat your mountain trip like a beach trip. Also consider hiking, birding, camping, and attending ranger programs. I highly recommend honing your photography skills if that’s your thing. There are lots of challenges and inspiration to be had here.
On a personal note…
When most people think “geologist” they think rock hound. Unfortunately that’s like thinking all doctors are neurologists or all football players are quarterbacks. In my case, while I do enjoy me some rocks, I get truly misty for sand and water, particularly creek and river water and how they move the sand and make lovely formations. So when you get to the Dunes, check out the sand and all the dark-colored heavy minerals in it. Get down close and take in the remarkable variety of sand grains. If you’re used to uniform beach sand, this is sure to surprise and delight you.
Planning your visit…
As usual, information is best straight from the horse’s mouth so visit NPS’s Great Sand Dunes page for details on how to plan your visit…but definitely get yourself to the Dunes.
And with that, here’s a few more shots of Camp Granola’s last visit to the dunes in 2009.
Sinuous and alluring, there’s no end to the wonders of the dunes.
A 9-year-old Fred getting his Vitamin N in the sand.
George, at a tender 6 years, never stopped smiling. His quote for the day: “I’m having more fun than you expected me to.” And the doozie? He said it was more fun than Gramma’s house. Folks, you have no idea what a statement that is.
There’s really no way in a picture to give you a sense of scale here but that speck near the bottom is George. And how about those sexy bands of heavy minerals at the top? Groovy!
