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I’m driving north on I-25 from New Mexico into Colorado. It’s been raining steadily for the last hour or so. I look up and see the “Welcome to Colorado” sign, and exactly that instant, it begins to snow. Must be against the law or something in New Mexico to snow at the end of April. The clouds are dark ahead and I still have 250 miles to drive until I get to [tag]Great Sand Dunes National Park[/tag]. Doesn’t look good.

It continued to snow, rain and sleet the entire way into the park. I arrived at about 2:00pm to a snow encrusted visitor’s center and a strong wind from the north. Not to be daunted by a little weather, I unpacked the gear I had last used in NEW HAMPSHIRE … IN FEBRUARY. But striking out for the dunes in the snow and wind is a unique experience. The wind is omnipresent, and walking upwind is an experience in stinging snow and stinging sand. After about a half an hour of tromping up and down dunes in the wind and snow, snapping the occasional abstract photo, I headed to camp to wait out the storm. Man, I love my truck.

I’m getting better at this photography stuff – almost. I woke up at about 6:15am the next morning. Luckily I had just traversed two time zones, otherwise, no chance. I opened the window above my bed and looked out to see dawn cresting over a snow covered wonderland. I thought to myself, “Man, that’s pretty. Someone should take a picture.” I turned over, closed my eyes for another 7 minutes, putting the world on snooze. I bolted upright in bed, nearly hitting my head on the ceiling. That person should be ME! I pulled on my outerwear and dashed outside, sans coffee, sans mittens, and spent the next several hours taking pictures of the dunes. I later joined Carol of the Park Service for a ranger led walk up the Medano Creek. Very instructional and entertaining as always. For example, I learned that unlike many other parks that center around a scenic vista, the boundaries of the Sand Dunes were defined by research into the support mechanisms of the dunes, namely water from the mountains and sand from the valley. A little different than Yellowstone or Yosemite which were created as tourist destinations, but strangely similar to the oldest park in the system, Hot Springs.

Great Sand [tag]Dunes[/tag] National Park consists of a huge sand dune field contained by Medano Creek to the and Sand Creeks. The dunes themselves run right up against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The big event each year is waiting for enough water to enter the dunes to supersaturate them, allowing Medano Creek to flow. Water, sand, sky and mountains make the park a photographer’s dream. I took over 300 pictures at the dunes, so the album is a little large. Enjoy, I think there’s some goodies in there.

Off to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, then north to Rocky Mountain and Badlands. Hope the snow stays away.