San Luis SP and the Sand Dunes NP

 

The time had come to leave Santa Fe, another Thursday another move and this time out of New Mexico, but I have a feeling we will be seeing a part of her again soon.

We headed directly north from Santa Fe to our new destination “San Luis state park” which is in south east Colorado a nice little 150 mile drive.

The reason we, or should I say I chose this state park is staring at us through the window of the RV, it is the magnificent sight of one of USA’s national parks, “The Great Sand Dunes”

The state park is in the largest valley in Colorado with snow capped mountains either side of us and an arid desert in the middle with funnels of dust devils dancing all around us.

On the Friday it was overcast and we decided to go visit the dunes, because of our “America the Beautiful” card purchase we avoided the $15 entrance fee (somewhat higher than our 6^th edition (2009) “National Geographic National parks said it would be) I guess I’ve been planning longer than I thought)

We went into the visitor centre, watched the video and set off for the dunes, particularly “High Dune” at 770 feet and a two mile round trip in the sand.

No picture or anything I type can portray these immense moving features.

After an hours walking in clearing skies we made it to the top and wondered at the sight below, other dunes with what looked liked ants (people) climbing, surfing and body boarding down the dunes. We left the park at lunch time for lunch about a mile outside and on looking back; this is what we saw;

A storm and enveloped the dunes and after a while people were entering where we were having lunch drenched through returning their hired boards, their day at the dunes over.

We however fancied another hike this time to a place called “Zapata falls” a rough 3 ½ drive up an un-tarmaced road followed by a short hike up a hill and in/through a river, a very cold river

to get to this:

 

The following day took us into the nearest town for a browse, “Alamosa” some 16 miles away where the price of fuel is clearly price fixed as every garage in town had the fuel priced the same and at the highest price we have had to pay so far, $2.36. How d they get away with it when it is so blatant?

I did however manage to get 2 hardly used Specialized cycle helmets at a thrift store for $3 each which was better than the cheap brand at Walmart for $25 or the 30% reduced ones at the soon to be closed store of “Sports Authority” for $69. Bargain me thinks.

Sunday was another hike up the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the park (another $15 saved J), this time the Mosca pass trail a round trip of 7 miles with an elevation gain of 1500’ 3 ½ hours and many great views, a Geocache at the top and several ambushes by the dreaded mosquito and we were back at the car, totally elated very pleased with the walk.

With plenty of fauna and flora;

I know a friend (Jen) from the UK who would love it here;

After lunch we were going to do another hike this time up the wide sandy creek that runs alongside the dunes, but on getting to the parking spot, we decided to wait a few minutes as we could see a weather system coming at us, within minutes, it hit us, hail and rain. We spotted a young couple come of the dunes and were getting battered and clearly needed some British help, we picked them up and drove them back to their car about a mile away, it took moments and the ground was white with large hailstones, I think Tom and Amy from Philadelphia were grateful we came along when we did.

 

So here we are in the USA for our second July 4^th celebration, last year we were in a campsite and just watched the fireworks, this time we decided to go and see a parade in Alamosa. July 4^th a celebration of Independence Day right? Well that’s what we thought too, you know historic pageants, military events and fireworks.

There were half a dozen ex military people carrying flags, nothing historic nothing that signified “Independence” it was more about who to vote for district governor, recruitment for health clubs and boy scouts and how many sweets the children could grab that were being throw from the variety of different vehicles being driven down the road! It’s our first one, I am sure there are better more meaningful 4^th July parades out there somewhere.

In the evening we sat outside and had a BBQ, during our meal we kept hearing strange noises and we later saw a bird swoop low and then go high and as it turned we heard the noise. It turns out it was a “Common Nighthawk” if you want to hear what we heard, watch this video Common nighthawk

 

The following day it was back to the dunes…..for some fun!https://wordpress.com/post/twaddup.wordpress.com/1144

We hired a board from the lodge / come gift shop just before the park entrance for $20 and went surfing on the dunes, a great laugh but very tiring. Some of those dunes are steep and not being 20 years old anymore makes it harder too.

This could be my first video upload if it works;

Click here……Terry sand boarding

 

After the sledging we took a hike up the Medeno creek for a couple of miles, it was so refreshing walking barefoot through the sandy water.

 

Some of the creatures we have come across this week, the small ones,

include ye oldie “ Black tailed Prairie dog”

 

The “Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel”

 

We did spot one of the “Ord’s Kangaroo rat” which I haven’t managed to capture a picture of yet.

Also a couple of female “Elk” (I stand corrected as of 11th August while at Sleepy hollow, Forrest the owner tells me this is a “Pronghorn”)

 

 

This little guy is an “Eastern short-horned lizard”

One thing that i have been itching to do for a while now, is to have a game of golf and today i managed 9 holes at a golf course in Alamosa. I was quite surprised at how well i hit the ball, clearly there were some rusty shots but we both enjoyed the walk around the course seeing plenty of wildlife while playing golf. Until the next time…

Love you all 🙂