Great Sand Dunes National Park - Colorado

January 22-24, 2010

This marks the first winter camping trip I've done and I was excited to go on it, but a bit concerned I wouldn't stay warm enough. Despite the cold temperatures (~6F as a low) it was a trip well-worth it.

My housemate and I met Darren Kilgore down there Friday night and the dunes had a lovely white blanket on. We were excited for sunrise, but when the early morning came, there was a lot of cloud cover making the morning light a bit dull. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed the time. As the day went on we played around on the Medano Creek trail (as long as it was open), napped, and climbed the dunes. Sunset came and what a light display! The mixture of sand, snow, clouds, and sun really made for some excellent light conditions - probably one of the best sunsets I've captured to date. Finally, Sunday morning came and we took a few as the light permitted and then hiked up to Zapata Falls. The falls and creek were covered in thick ice and I really took a liking to the falls. On the way back down to the cars, we saw the Sangre de Cristo mountains had some sweet light and clouds so we hussled back in order to make the most of what we saw. All-in-all, it was a very beneficial trip!

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Long Aspen shadows lay across the snow-covered ground of Medano Pass.

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On the north side of the sand dunes, the Sangre de Cristo range is covered in snow and clouds. Anything can happen around this area and it was quite the conditions to witness.

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The late afternoon sun shines through the clouds creating dramatic light on the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

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Sunset light can really add to an environment making it dreamy as seen here at the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. The beautiful evening light hits the peaks creating a nice alpenglow.

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During this cloudy morning, the sunrise light touched the top of the dunes to create this effect.

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Every winter Zapata Falls freezes along with the creek it flows into thus making easier access to the falls, but slippery. This year the falls froze more than usual creating quite an ice bulge.

Mount Herard, one of the Sangre de Cristo peaks, became covered in the afternoon clouds.

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