Great Sand Dunes and Zapata Falls

Yesterday, Linda and I set of for a Sabbath adventure to The Great Sand Dunes National Park.    On the way we had BEAUTIFUL scenery and mountain views.  Linda, who recently got a new camera, was the photographer for the trip and took lots of pictures of the different peaks and scenes. 

 We debated on the way to the park whether or not to get the day pass or the yearly pass.  Once we got to the park, we pulled up to the entrance booth and read the sign, "Today is the 80th anniversary of the park. No park entry fees today!"  We were very thankful that God worked it out so we wouldn't have to pay the park entrance fee after all. 

 According to the book I received from the library this week (yes I already have a library card), Colorado has famous piles of sand. Best known are the Great Sand Dunes, located in the national monument [now park] of the same name in south-central Colorado. Here, billions of tiny grains of wind-blown sand have piled dunes to over 700 feet. Strange But True Colorado: Weird Tales of the Wild West by: John Hafnor  The book also goes on to talk about how the San Luis Valley, where the dunes are located, is one of the best and the world's largest alpine valleys and is also Colorado's "only true desert". The dunes stay in the valley, instead of blowing away in the strong, very strong winds, because of the Medano Creek, between the dunes and the Sangre de Cristo mountains, washes away the eastern part of the dunes and carries the sand back into the valley.  There the winds pick up the sand and blow it back into the dunes, repeating the process and keeping the dunes in the same place....even though the sand cycles.  Also the underground aquifer and streams keep the dunes moist on the inside, only the top feet or so of the dunes is dry sand.  Very cool.  Now you have learned something for the day.    

 Although it was very windy, we had a lot of fun climbing dunes, wading through the creek, and taking shadow pictures.  Linda's shadow looked like she had devil horns.  My first shadow person, I looked like a scuba diver.  My second shadow person, I looked like some kind of strange creature with extra appendages.  We drove the car down to the Point of No Return, on the unpaved road and then set off on our hikes into the dunes. 

 These are the pictures from my cell phone camera since my real camera battery was dead :(

 So next we went to Zapata Falls, an underground waterfall that is on BLM land several miles outside of the park.  My book tells me "The falls are hidden deep in a cave, and are often completely frozen in a stunning aqua-blue. Be prepared to approach the falls by walking on ice, except in summer."   To get to the falls we had to walk on the frozen stream, which was solid ice.  However, we could hear the water flowing underneath our feet and sometimes, through openings in the ice, could see the water running beneath us. 

 Definitely worth the whole trip.  The aqua-blue ice was like nothing I have ever seen before.  The clear ice that we were standing in front of/I had my hands on was a frozen ice cylinder encasing the waterfall.  You could see the water running on the inside of the clear ice but the outside was frozen.  Then to the left of the running falls was another huge sheet of frozen ice that looked like it was from inside mammoth caves.  So cool.  Best part of the trip.   After we climbed up the ice, we decided not to climb down so. . . we slid down.  We got wet but it was worth it.

On the way home we saw a lot of antelope.  Somehow...they ended up being called cantaloupe for the rest of the trip and we had lots of laughs about the herds of cantaloupe.   We also saw deer and a golden eagle by the side of the road.  Good times.  Next trip to the Great Sand Dunes I would want a 4-wheel drive vehicle so that I could go up into the mountains and see more of the park.  There are lots of 4-wheel drive roads but few paved/unpaved roads.

4/27/12: Update. . .my roomie Linda decided to make a blog :)  This is her post from the same day. . .Great Sand Dunes and Zapata Falls

Yay!  I finally got my "movie" of us sliding down the waterfall uploaded from my phone. It cracks me up every time I watch it :)  So much fun!!!