Great Sand Dunes National Park

The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado is one of my favorite places to hang out. I spent 5 nights there and experienced rain, sun, hail, lightning, wind, mosquito, deer, great tourists, and relaxation. 

Sunny day in Colorado.

The clouds added a special effect to the dunes.

The river does not run all the time but due to a large amount of snow last winter the river has continued to flow late into the summer.

In order to get to the dunes you have to walk across the river, or just stop and play in the river. The kids really enjoy it. This was 4th of July, I stayed in my camp.

Not a bad campsite for getting the last one in the park.

The deer were pretty friendly as I took down my tent.

Later I moved to this campsite and still had a great view. 

Variety is the spice of life!

You can ride horses into the sand dunes.

Deer were everywhere.

They enjoyed the shade as much as I do.

The river is amazing and I took hikes along it.

Early morning is a good time to walk the river.

6:00AM

Me and my shadow.

Even the parking lot was empty.

Sunset and the last sun on the mountains. This picture is from my campsite.

This one also.

And this!

A friend I met at the campground, Ryan.

Every day was another great view.

Hail stones the size of peas.

People playing in the river was like people going to the beach. Many people climbed the dunes, no thanks.

I had a great time, stop in sometime.

The Alpine Loop near Lake City, CO.

My trip to Colorado was fantastic and I was able to travel the Alpine Loop over two very high passes, Engineer and Cinnamon Pass. After the Forth of July the trail is very busy with 4-wheelers and Jeeps. I have wanted to travel the loop for years and finally hired a private guide to show me around. Here we go!

 The trip starts out on a nice easy road but don't be fooled.

The sights are fantastic. Can you see the tent in this picture?

How about now?

This is an old mining town high in the mountains. We had lunch there.

Houses in the old town, a ghost town now.

Another old house.

What do you think of this view?

In this picture you can see where avalanches have come down the mountain. The trees were wiped out. 

Lots of waterfalls and creeks.

Waterfall I walked down to.

You can see how the size of the stream changes from Spring to Summer due to snow melt. It is pretty slow in this picture but you can see how high it has been. 

Cinnamon Pass and no trees. I was above tree line where no trees can survive. It was a quiet day with very little traffic. 

12,640' above sea level. Cool!

What a great experience. I didn't get any altitude sickness due to having been in Colorado for several days before climbing to this altitude. 

Engineer Pass was the other pass we drove over at 12,800'. Lots of snow there. 

Lots!

There were a few others up there. 

Lots!! 

I came up that road.

Notice the dead trees in the foreground that are dead from beetle kill. The brown ones are standing dead and a fire hazard. 

So many great pictures up there and I will go back, maybe this Fall for the colors. 

I had a great time and love Lake City, Colorado. Look it up on the map and see how deep in the mountains it is. Put it on your list of places to go and you won't be disappointed. Happy Trails!

Gateway, CO

There is a very beautiful place in western Colorado only about 5 miles from Utah but to drive to Utah it is an 80 mile drive. Look it up on the map. It is just south of Grand Junction. I was on a motorcycle trip when I found it. I was riding with an old friend from Prince Edward Island, Canada. 

It was a beautiful day and the trip is on a road seldom traveled. Route 141 is an off-the-beaten-path kind of road and on the 95 mile stretch there aren't any other towns. I am a firm believer of wearing the safety equipment to stay safe on the road.

This was one of the most scenic rides I have been on. 

Farmland and canyons.

My bike, BMW 650GS.

Clear sky.

Very green, lots of rain.

Looked like a great Diner but it was closed.

Small quiet town. 

Gateway has a large resort that is all stucco and looks brand new.

As you can see there were very few visitors.

I did not stay over night but I want to go back and stay someday. 

Notice the mountains in the back ground.

We stopped for lunch and were the only ones in the restaurant. 

On down the road.

It wasn't hot that day so it was a great ride. 

The route followed the Dolores River south.

It was easy to stop and take photos since there were no other cars around. 

It is not often you can find a place that has not already been found and crowded. This was a great find.

Along the road south of the town of Gateway we came upon a sign that told the story of the hanging flume. This is a way to get water from the river to the ground high above the river. The flume would get water from the river far upstream and gradually as the river dropped, flowing downstream, the flume ran along the canyon wall dropping at a slower pace so the water was still flowing down hill but it appeared the flume was climbing the canyon wall.  Eventually the flume carried the water to a distant place down rive but at the top of the canyon wall. The farmers there would then have water from the river far below. This was in the day before electricity to pump water. 

The flume runs along the rocks half way up from the river to the blue sky. It is not all there but you can see the wood flume hanging on the rocks.

It is unusual to see and fences to keep visitors from falling in, so be careful.

Lots of unspoiled rock.

Lots of streams feeding into the river. We stopped to rest at this one. 

We were the only ones at the rest area and you could camp there too.

Lots of birds made it so peaceful.

Hope you get a chance to visit Gateway someday. I know you will enjoy the ride and the scenery. Look it up on a map and get an idea how remote it is. 

Happy Trails!