Give me land, lots of land, Dont' Fence Me In

Daily Mileage= 280
Trip Mileage=2442

Today we left Denver and headed slightly west and then south through some of the most beautiful land we've ever seen. The topography ranged from snow covered mountains (over 14,000 feet high, "fourteeners" as they're called here) to vast valleys with wide open spaces. Rich and I both agree there is still a lot of room to live in this country. We saw plenty of acreage for sale, we're just not sure what you would do with it! So far on the trip, we've been fortunate because the weather has been perfect yet we get to see the snow covered peaks. It provides a different perspective to the mountains.

We stopped by Dillon and then Breckenridge which is a very nice ski area but also would be lovely in the summer or just about any time. In addition to the majestic mountains, we saw some gorgeous lakes in the Dillon/Breckenridge area. The vistas we saw today were so breathtaking that I must admit their beauty brought tears to my eyes. My only regret was that I didn't have any John Denver on my IPOD because we really felt we were "so high that we could talk to God and listen to his/her casual reply!"

As we drove up over the Continental Divide we made the mandatory stop so Rich could be on both sides of the divide at the same time. (He wasn't quite sure which side to go on.) Well, the toilets do not flow in reverse order however, the rivers do flow east and west, respectively, from the line. We were at 11,000 feet and we felt it. I think he's more to the left (in many ways)!

We were heading to the Great Sand Dunes National Park down by Alamosa. As one approaches the area, you begin to see sand out in the plains, quite a distance away. However when you drive up to the park you can't believe the magnitude of the dunes. These are not just dunes like we have in Hilton Head or even up in Cape Cod. These are mountains made from sand that has shifted over centuries and continues to do so with the help of wind and water from the mountains. The sand ends up here because it is blocked by the mountain range, Sangre de Cristos, which is right next to it.

In front of the dunes is the Medano Creek that has seasonal flows. Right now with the snow melting it's beginning to get fuller. It never gets to be a roaring rapid but it does have a phenomenon called "surge flow" which occurs when small, temporary dams of sand upstream collapse and send a "wave" of water downstream. Apparently this only happens in a few places around the world. We saw it but it was only a few inches high.

Then we decided we had to hike up the dunes as far as we could. We knew the likelihood of making it to the top was slim since we're talking about 650 foot dunes! Yes, these are huge and you're hiking in sand which is even more difficult. Of course your reward is a spectacular view of the San Luis Valley and the Sangre de Cristos mountains.

We made it about a 1/3 of the way up which gave a great perspective but decided we may not have the energy to make it back. We didn't see too many others hiking it either but if you're ever in this part of the world, it's definitely worth a few hour visit (tough work).

We ended the day with a good dinner at the San Luis Valley Brewing Company. That about says it all!

Love, Mare & Rich