Day 161: Sand & Snow

Location: Amarillo, TX

We woke up sporadically between 7:45 a.m. and noon to check the Colorado Department of Transportation website, which lists road closures. The pass was re-opened around noon, so we hit the road, stopping at a nearby gas station to pick up some doughnuts and Pop Tarts for breakfast. The pass was still fairly icy, causing the drive to take a little longer than we had hoped. We arrived at Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve (click here to see a map of the park) around 2:30 p.m. and immediately began exploring.

The park is rather straightforward – there is a parking lot from which you are free to walk amongst the dunes. There are no trails due to the constantly-changing nature of the dunes, so visitors are welcome to forge their own way. Furthermore, the park allows dogs, as long as they are leashed. After a stop at the visitor center, we set out into the dunes. With the wind whipping across the landscape, it was quite cold, but we quickly warmed up as we climbed into the dunes. Data was trilled to be out of the car and getting a workout, which was fun for all three of us. The terrain varied greatly from dune to dune. Some areas were wet with freshly melted snow, others were hard with frost. There were, of course, the unavoidable areas of deep, loose sand and also some snowy areas. The weirdest terrain type, however, occurred when deep snow was covered by a layer of sand, resulting in a thick crust of sand that looked exactly like normal dune sand. Since we could never see this sand-covered snow coming, we would frequently find ourselves knee-deep in snow.

After reaching the peak of each dune, we found ourselves face-to-face with another series of massive dunes. We climbed until the sun began to set and we were forced to turn back. I estimate we hiked about 2 miles in total, resulting in three tired individuals by the time we returned to the car.

The park is amazing. The dunes are unbelievably large, but framed by 14,000-foot peaks to keep them humble. Hiking in the dunes is strenuous, but a lot of fun (although I’d hate to be there in mid-summer when the temperature of the sand can soar above 140ºF).

After leaving the park, we began driving east. This marked the start of a few days of driving for us, as we don’t have any specific stops to make until Fayetteville, AR. We had hoped to meet up with my friend, Kelsey, in Stillwater, OK, but her family is in Colorado for Christmas, a case of unfortunate timing. In any case, we drove five hours from the park into Texas, stopping for a late dinner at Sonic in Dalhart. We are now in Amarillo. Julia is asleep in the car while I finish up this post.

Tomorrow, we are going to visit the nearby Cadillac Ranch before moving on. I’m not sure where we are going to stop along the way, so I suppose we’ll just have to see how things go.

Here are photos from today. Click “there’s more to this” to see them all, or visit my SmugMug.

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.

The dunes, framed by the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. Click on the above image to see a larger version.

An example of the thin crust of sand that belied the deep snow underneath.

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.

Notice the nearly-full moon rising? Click on the above image to see a larger version.

Despite being stuck on a leash, Data had a blast and was completely baffled by the different textures of sand. As a result, he spent a lot of time confusing himself and running in circles making silly faces.

Julia and Data on top of a dune.

Snow formations in the sand.

I found the interplay between snow and sand fascinating.