We headed out on a drive around parts of southern Colorado this week, with Great Sand Dunes Park as our eventual destination. Gorgeous weather, warm and sunny, and it seemed as every mile's scenery was more breath-taking than the one before. A fabulous trip. We covered enough distance to justify an overnight stay in Canon City, and while there, had a nice dinner at Merlino's Belvedere, an Italian restaurant we remember fondly from visits many years ago.
Joe had the lasagna
We took a "back" way to Canon City, rather than the faster but much more brutal Interstate route. We worked our way south along the western edge of the plains, going through Bennett, Kiowa, Elbert, and finally Colorado Springs, where we headed south on CO 115 for Canon City. It was a lovely drive, the prairie could not have looked richer with all its golden tones. Add to that endless blue skies and dramatic mountain ranges in the distance...
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The next morning we continued our trek toward the Great Sand Dunes, beautiful, beautiful drive.
We followed the Arkansas River Valley for quite a way, but not usually this close to the river. Much of the road was through beautiful canyons...
...like this one. All along the river there were very nice day use recreation areas which are part of the Colorado Parks System (Arkansas River Headwaters). $7 fee or pass required.This is one of those areas that we stopped in for a few minutes.
Joe taking a short hike around the area
...in every direction
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We stopped in Salida for lunch
and took a drive around the historic downtown area before continuing on
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beautiful view from the road
Our drive took us through Ponca Pass, where we crossed the divide, then we descended into the San Luis Valley. The drive through the valley was mesmerizing, not only from the sheer beauty that surrounded us, with mountain ranges off to both the east and the west, but also from the strange "focusing of the mind" that accompanies driving a road that is completely straight for seemingly endless miles. Which CO 17, the road we took south through the San Luis Valley, certainly was.
another straight stretch of road, Alamosa County Lane 6, heading toward the dunes
The Great Sand Dunes were our destination, at 700+ ft, the tallest dunes in N America. The dunes cover about 30 square miles (11% of the total sand field area), along the western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, at the north east corner of the valley.
The sand itself was produced by the San Juan Mountains, located about 60 miles away on the opposite side of the valley. Pulverized rock = sand. Over millions of years of wind, abrasion, thaw/ freeze cycle, etc, the sand was created and then blown by prevailing winds across the San Luis Valley and into the sand field area against the Sangre de Cristos. Other winds blow the sand dunes back onto themselves, creating tall dunes and crisp, sculpted edges on some sides.
That is the simple explanation of where the sand came from, the reality is a bit more complex. Lots of information at the Park's website.
The dunes are visible from quite a distance as a much lighter band of color at the mountains' base. This picture was taken from the park entrance, so not too far from the dunes
closer-in view of the dunes from the road
The dunes themselves are accessible to visitors on foot and with pets on leashes. 24 hour hiking permitted, as is camping on the dunes. Sledding and skiing on the sand are supposed to be popular, although park literature said conditions are best after precipitation and that cardboard doesn't work. We didn't try anything exotic, but we did go for a short hike in the sand
it was warm in the sunshine with a rather cool but gentle breeze blowing across the dunes--what a perfect afternoon for a visit!
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we were greeted upon our arrival at the dunes parking area, by a magpie, who was very busy picking off and eating the bugs stuck to the front of cars parking. The bird was quite adept at knocking the crusted-on bugs free so they could be consumed, and its antics were entertaining. Here is a short video, as I filmed, the bird moved underneath the car and out of view.
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All too soon, it was time to point the car in the direction of home. As late as it was, and as many miles as we had to cover coming home from the dunes, we continued south and west until we got on I-25 at Walsenburg, which we took all the way home. Hit some gridlock in Denver rush hour, but otherwise the trip was fine.
back to reality
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Here is a short video of a neon sign in Canon City that Joe found intriguing and wanted to share:
