Return to the Sand Dunes - Spring 2023

 The Great Sand Dunes are a special place.  It's a super unique national park that is in the middle of nowhere southern Colorado.  360 Sangre de Cristo mountain views and hundreds of miles of sand with no trails.  To get to the dunes, we started at the parking area and walked across Mediano Creek, which was cold on the first day and warm on the second day based on whether or not the sun was out.  

The kids have been to the dunes before, but Kolby was only a toddler and KD didn't even remember the experience being a 3 year old.   This time, we drove down there and didn't tell our kids that our family friends were going to meet us there.  It was a fun surprise when they showed up to our camping spot the first night.  The look on their face when they saw them was priceless.  We had a great time with the Coffins as we stayed at our parents "cabin" in the Spanish Peaks area the first night and then rented a cabin near the dunes on the second night. The kids (and adults) got to play in the creek and, believe it or not, all of the older kids made it to the top of High Dune, which was not an easy task!  The wind up there was intense.

Mediano Creek

 

Sunset on the Dunes

 

 

 

Late Autumn in the Sangre de Cristos

The family and I took a trip down to the lot over the 4 day weekend.  I decided to take a couple afternoons off and go for a couple sunset photography drives.  It was a pleasant surprise to find some pockets of fall colors along the "Highway of Legends" and the Huerfano River Valley.  Here are a few images from the trip:

Culebra Peak from near Trinidad

West Spanish Peak

Sunset and stars over West Spanish Peak near La Veta - Prints Available

Sunset over East Spanish Peak form near Walsenburg

Huerfano Valley

Aspen stand

I drove up to the Lily Lake trailhead to see how the aspens were doing up higher.  Nope... Not a leaf on the trees, but the sunset was awsome over Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point (two Colorado 14ers):

Blanca and Ellingwood Sunset - Prints Available

This one taken like 2 minutes later - Close up of Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point