Freaky Sand Dunes

The drive from Cortez Colorado to Denver was absolutely beautiful--drove through some great mountains, with lots of mini waterfalls seen from the road from the melting snow. I also stopped at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. This place was a monument up until 2004, when it received park standing. The park is pretty small, but the dunes are interesting. Kind of freaky, in part because the locals use the area as a beach and in part because of the proximity of snowcapped mountains . There is a creek/river that runs right by the dunes, with very low water, and there were hundreds of kids splashing around in the riverbed and then running in the sand. The kids were also screaming, and I have to admit this annoyed me, so I had a picnic and moved on to a part of the park without kids. You can climb the dunes, but I really didn't feel like it. I took a shortish hike though.

Dunes: