The Great Sand Dunes National Park is a very unique place with four distinct ecosystems. The sand dunes, the tallest in North America, rise 750 feet from the scrub brush covered valley floor. The sand is always moving due to winds in the area and piles up against the Sangre De Cristo mountains. These mountains rise to over 14,000 feet in elevation and the snow cap found there creates the fourth ecosystem, a riparian zone called the Medano Creek area.
The best times to photograph the dunes is after a major snow storm when the dunes are covered in snow, and in the spring when snow melt from the mountains behind the dunes, fills the Medano Creek area with water at the base of the dunes. I was there at the wrong time for either of these conditions. The dark areas on the dunes, as seen above, are what's left of last week's snow storm and the riverbed was nothing but sand and driftwood.
Well, after three days in the San Luis Valley, it's time to head back to my home away from home, Englewood, Co.
Very nice . . . I have got to get out there one of these days.
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