Tag: Baca

The first person to wonder why huge piles of sand were in the mountains of Colorado didn’t get credit for the question. It’s easier to wonder about these great sand dunes now, with roads and all, but I’m not sure the answer is any more clear. I think it looks cooler when you’re standing there, because the sand all looks the same in my pictures. It was fun to dig into the river bed and find that the river was still there under the sand. It’s hard to resist walking up the dunes, and why would you?

The river under the sand

Go and see

When we had our fill of sand, we went to Zapata Falls, a couple miles south of the dunes. It’s an oasis in the desert. After walking forever in the heat (probably 15 minutes, because it’s only a half mile trail from the parking lot) you find yourself in this crack in the rock with a tiny water fall and it’s is positively chilly even on hot days. It was a treat.

Crack in the rock

Zapata Falls

The Crew

It’s  less than 15 miles from Crestone, CO to the Great Sand Dunes National Park – on the map. It takes a little over an hour to drive there  because its more miles by car. It seemed reasonable to see how close we could get to the north side of the dunes by car and then walk around that area a little bit. It’s rugged. It’s not hospitable. And, even after driving to get close, its a long walk, we did not walk to the Sand Dunes.