I had a beautiful day for traveling yesterday, arriving at the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. The campgrounds at the Monument were full but the ranger at the gate told me to check with the camp host as there may be a possibility of a single tent available. He was correct as they opened up a group site and put only single tents in there.
I did some wandering around the monument and walked a short distance out on the dunes and came back for dinner. Later on I headed to a parking lot just outside the campgrounds where I thought I could get a photo of the sunset on the dunes. That’s where I took the first image.
While walking to this parking lot for the first image, the wind started to pickup as you can see in the second image. And, it blew into the early morning. And, when you camp near the sand dunes you can expect a bit of sand when the wind blows. I broke camp about 6:30 am so I could get on the road early and everything in my tent was covered with a fine layer of sand this morning, including me. It was a cool morning. When I started my car at 7:00 am the temperature gauge said is was 38 degrees. I’m now in Alamosa at the Milagros Coffee House before my drive to Canyon de Chelly.
10 Comments
Steve Skinner
Nothing beats a good coating of fine sand!
Monte Stevens
Almost an instant tan but it does wash off. I will need to clean my tent as the sand is so fine it’s settled into the material.
Tom Dills
You’ll be finding sand for months! But it looks like the experience was worth a little bit of inconvenience. And glad to know you were able to locate some coffee and wifi!
Monte Stevens
It was a good evening there inspite of the wind. And, this image is an HDR image in case you hadn’t noticed.
Paul Lester
At first, when I saw the title, my mind went to metric: 38! He must be in or near Phoenix, but it was the other 38 🙂 Brrrrr, though I don’t think that I’d mind a bit of that at all. I’m ready for a bit of fall chill and maybe even a bit of rain!
Lovely view to wake up to.
Monte Stevens
The Dunes are interesting and deserve more time than one night. I will need to make time for another visit. Now in Phoenix and it’s not even close to 38. It’s almost 6:00 here and it’s already 80 degrees. 🙂
Cedric Canard
Like Paul, when I read 38 I thought Celsius, then I realised that was wrong and I thought: Camping?!? Anyway, the photos are beautiful Monte.
Monte Stevens
Thanks, Cedric! Yes, camping. Today I went through and cleaned the tent. I ended up washing it with a wet rag. What a mess. I’m at my parents house in Phoenix and it’s 90 degrees at 9:00 PM.
Mark
Wow, very nice Monte. Not quite ready for 38 deg mornings here, but for views like you portray here, I’d take it in a heartbeat.
Monte Stevens
I think this is where I picked up the dust on my sensor. Th sand was so fine it could have made it in my camera because I did not change me lens. All my images from this time on have the dust. I’m going to blow it off again today.