Wind, sand and seasons.....

Bill and Martha were drawn, as if mesmerized, to the San Luis Valley of Colorado by it's stark beauty.  It is a high cold desert surrounded by a massive buttress of snow capped peaks on three sides opening to a wide valley on the south.  Formed by the gargantuan forces of tectonic uplift and eons of volcanic activity this geologic wonder is over 40 miles wide and 120 miles long.  The Valley varies from flat volcanic plane to soaring mountains.  Fecund volcanic soil watered by a vast aquifer produces prodigious crops at the foot of the San Juan Mountains on the west side.  The central and southern portion is a cold desert over 7,800 feet high and averaging but 40F degrees. The eastern escarpment vaults sharply upward by over 5,000 feet.  Within sight of the entire valley this seeming fortress of nature harbors small villages some over 400 years old.  

After a 45 year absence G and I visited a place her her father and Mother, Bill and Martha, loves so well - The Great Sand Dunes.  A National Monument when we visited last it was granted "National Park and Preserve" status in 2004.  At over 750' rise above the surface, these are the highest sand dunes in North America and they are unique in the world.  They are in a high cold desert with abundant water flows on the surface at the edge of the dunes and at the foot of the 300 sq. mile dune field is a wetland.  The dunes extend over 350'  below the surface and are infused with the water abundantly flowing from the mountains abutting the east and north perimeters.

Formation of the Dunes covers eons as the constant wind picked up sand from the southwest portion of the valley only to be deposited on the cloistered northeast corner as the winds lifted up over the mountain parapet.

The Dunes have been described as a "playground".  People surf the dunes, build sand castles, dig holes and all the things folks do at a sea shore except water sports.  Night comes, the constant southwest wind blows and in the morning all the previous day's activities have been erased.   Nature and wilderness trails abound.  RV, tent and primitive camping is all within the National Park and Preserve.

It is easy to be put-off by the long desolate road running down the middle of the Valley from Poncha Pass in the north if you focus only on the road and it's immediate surroundings.  The San Luis Valley requires the willingness to look in smaller corners while baking in the wonder of the surrounding mountains.

G and I have been ensnared by the beauty of this place as were Bill and Martha so many years ago.  We put this special place on our list of places to go and explore in the years that follow.
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Santa Fe is 87 miles directly south of Chama.  Tomorrow we will spend the day browsing stores and galleries while buying nothing.  There is a place on the Square we will stop for lunch and then on to find a glass studio, Bulls-eye Glass, to check it out.  I promise, and I mean it, that we are only purchasing a baseball hat tomorrow.

Then on to Espanola to the Carson National Forest Ranger office to pick-up some free Forest Service Road Maps.  We will also be looking for dried peppers.  They are hung in long strings to dry and we are hoping to find a string of them to bring home for the family.

We have a lot of pictures and video to format this winter.  It should be fun.

I started a project this morning which will take two or three chase photo runs in the truck and one or two train trips to gather the pieces for a video timeline intermixed with still photos telling of our journey this year.  The Apple MAC has the software to put it together and I have already put together a very short video.  This is a high-tech version of looking at grand pop's photo album - Whoopee....
Stay tuned on this one.

I changed my computer settings and the Internet is working better.  The water line failed yet again.  I slapped on more silicone caulk and tape and will continue to keep the pressure low - this is getting really tiresome.

I will attempt to post a short video tomorrow.  G and I got some great stuff on our way up to The Great Sand Dunes this morning.

Later.....