Great Sand Dunes

Galen and I went out to the dunes hoping to get there before the seasonal Medano Creek had dried up.  We missed it last year.

A closeup of the dunes.

As you can see, we got there it time to see the creek.

The black areas in the photo are actually areas of black sand.  Some Native Americans are allowed to collect the black sand for ceremonies.

The clouds were apparently sleeping in this morning.  They hung out on the mountains for a long time.

The dunes are situated between flat desert land and mountains, including several mountains over 14,000 feet and are a product of both wind and water.  The highest dunes get up to 750' high and seem even higher when you try to climb them.  :-)  Climbing them on a windy afternoon is not advised unless you enjoy being painfully sandblasted.

They are very photogenic.

Medano Creek leaves artistic designs in the sand.

This is the road we take to get to the dunes.  Mountains lay straight ahead of us.  Mt. Blanca, a 14,300' mountain, is part of this range.  The Crestones range is behind the dunes.

Those little specks in this photo are people.  It is a tradition to climb the dunes to watch the sunset on nights when the moon is full and then walk back by moonlight.

Same people but I have zoomed in on them with my new camera.