Road Trip: Zapata Falls

Zapata Falls is located just a few miles from Great Sand Dunes National Park, and it is the perfect place to go to cool off in the summer. Mostly because the water is ice cold.

The hike to the falls is short, only about a half-mile. But to get to the falls, you do have to wade the creek. We guessed the water temperature was about 40 degrees, since most of it was probably snowmelt. But it is definitely worth getting your feet wet. The falls are about 30 feet tall, and they sit in the back of a cave/crevasse. The falls were created long ago from meltwater from a receding glacier, which carved out the narrow notch where the creek powers through.



There was a lot of mist and spray blowing out from the falls, so it was hard to get a close-up picture without the camera getting drenched. But here is a view of the bottom of the falls, as it flowed out of the cave.



The trailhead to the falls also provides a great view of the Sand Dunes and of the San Luis Valley. They valley is massive, and is about the same size as the state of Connecticut.

Road Trip: Great Sand Dunes National Park - Part 1

We stayed at the Great Sand Dunes Lodge, which sits just outside of the park boundary. The lodge offers a few old campers, which have been fixed up and are available for rental. We stayed in one, which was cute (if a little pricey). But you couldn't beat the view. From the window of our camper we had an outstanding view of the dunes.

So after checking in and unloading the car, we had enough time to make a quick visit to the park. We hurried in, as the mountains around us were bathed in evening light.



The Sand Dunes really are Great. The park contains the tallest and widest sand dunes in North America, with the largest reaching a height of about 750 feet. It is a really neat and scenic park, with the dunes sitting right at the base of the majestic mountains of the Sangre de Cristo Range. A shallow creek that is fed by snowmelt runs beside the dunes. We parked and crossed the creek (which was just an inch or two deep). But we weren't the only ones there. Apparently for a brief period every summer, the creek gets low enough to form stagnant pools. Which, of course, brings swarms of mosquitoes. As luck would have it, we were there right in the middle of mosquito season.



We strolled out to the dunes as the sky lit up for sunset. Jonah ran around trying to decide which of the dunes he wanted to sled down the next day. All of us, including our new mosquito friends, watched as the sun sank behind the dunes for the day.



Before sunrise the next day, I woke up and headed out to the park. I wanted to get a picture of the morning light hitting the dunes with the mountains in the background. I managed to leave the camper without waking anyone else up, and remembered to bring the camera and tripod. But I forgot to bring something vitally important - the bug spray. I parked at a small overlook and opened the door and was immediately attacked by a cloud of mosquitoes. My arms, legs and face were an easy breakfast as I tried to set up the camera. The only thing that would keep them at bay was to be in constant motion. So while I waited for the light to change on the dunes, I walked in circles around the camera, the car and the overlook. If I stopped to adjust the camera, however briefly, the plague of mosquitoes would descend. I ended up with this picture, and then hurried back to the refuge of our camper.



Back at the lodge we had breakfast (luckily the mosquitoes weren't so bad up there). I looked out the window and the light on the dunes was perfect, so I rushed out to get a picture. It's amazing how the subtle difference in light can change the appearance of the dunes. 





One of the most popular activities in the park is to go sand-boarding or sledding. So we rented a board from the lodge and then made a return trip to the dunes. Riding a board down the dunes is a lot of fun, but you have to be careful. If you wipe out, you will end up completely covered in sand. Your hair will be coated with sand. Your shoes will be filled with sand. Anakin Skywalker would hate it here.





It's hard to appreciate the sheer size of the dunes unless you see them in person, or try to climb to the top. People attempting to climb the dunes started to look like tiny ants going up a hill.





I'm not entirely sure why, but the mosquitoes left us alone while we were out there (maybe because it was getting to be the middle of the day?). But it was starting to get hot. There is hardly any vegetation on the dunes, and no shade. So on sunny days it gets really warm out on the sand.



But luckily there is a waterfall that is conveniently located just outside the park, perfect for cooling off. More on that on the next post....

Road Trip: Colorful Colorado

After Capulin Volcano, we headed north towards Colorado. But we didn't make it too far before I stopped to take a few pictures of this old abandoned house in New Mexico.



But we eventually made it into Colorado, who conveniently placed this sign along the road at a scenic overlook for people to take pictures.



Colorado is a beautiful state. We had started out the day driving through Oklahoma, so it was a drastic change of scenery.



We were in a hurry to get to our destination, but I couldn't help stopping here to get a few pictures. The mountain here is Blanca Peak, which is the fourth tallest mountain in the Rockies and the fourth tallest mountain in Colorado. It has an elevation of 14,351 feet.



We were right next to a cow pasture (you can see a bunch of cows in the foreground). If anyone reading this has been around cow pastures, you know that the ground is covered with lots of cow patties. And those cow patties attract a lot of flies. In my excitement to get pictures of the mountain, I left the car door sitting open, which was a grand invitation for all the flies to make a beeline for the inside of the car (much to my wife's displeasure).



We drove off with the windows down, hoping to evict all the flies that had flown in to join the road trip. Luckily we were just a few miles away from our next stop, which was the Great Sand Dunes. We were staying at a place right at the edge of the National Park, which provided a view of the dunes in one direction and a view of the mountains in the other. This is a view of Mount Zwischen, which towered over us and the nearby sand dunes.



After checking in and getting settled, we would head out to the Great Sand Dunes. It's a very photogenic place, and I got a bunch of pictures. More on that soon!

Road Trip: Capulin Volcano

It was peaceful and quiet as we drove through northeast New Mexico that day, which is a big difference to what it would have been like about 60,000 years ago. Back then, there were about 100 active volcanoes in this area. It was a time of "fire, ash, glowing lava, and ear-shattering explosions." You can still see some of evidence of that volcanic time, including one area that has been preserved as the Capulin Volcano National Monument.



Capulin Volcano was formed between 56,000 and 62,000 years ago, and is an extinct cinder cone volcano. It rises about 1,000 feet above the surrounding landscape, and was formed by successive eruptions that piled up a collection of lava, ash, rock debris and loose embers. You can drive right up to the top of the volcano, and then take a short hike into the former crater at the top.





Also at the top are overlooks, which provide panoramic views of other nearby extinct volcanoes.



Apparently from here you can see portions of five states (New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Colorado). I couldn't tell for sure which states we were looking at (besides New Mexico, obviously).

Road Trip: The Panhandle

We just got back from an epic road trip to Colorado, where we visited a few National Parks and saw some spectacular scenery. And it was a nice break from the heat and humidity of Arkansas in the summer!

We headed West, into Oklahoma and then into Texas. We drove through the flat lands of the Texas panhandle, past hundreds of massive windmills. We were in a hurry to get to Colorado, but I made a few quick stops at some interesting old buildings. This was an abandoned gas station in the small town of Texline, Texas.



The faded paint on the front says "Panhandle Service Station."



Also in Texline was this old house, the boards weathered after years of being exposed to the elements.





We crossed the border and went into New Mexico, and soon drove through the small town of Des Moines. We stopped at a small gas station, and I ran across the street to get pictures of this old hotel. It was built in the 1920s as the Seaton Hotel. In the 1990s the building was used as a private school (hence the "Freedom School" on the front), and also as a shelter for battered women and children.



Down the road was the small village of Folsom, New Mexico (which is not the Folsom from the Johnny Cash song). It's an old ranching town established in the 1870s.



Also in Folsom is this old and seemingly abandoned hotel. It was built in 1888 originally as a general mercantile store, but was converted into a hotel in 1910.