Weather!

10-06-11

We have really had the weather!

It rained off and on overnight, sometimes quite heavy. We were so thankful we were not in tents. There were at least 4 tents just in the B loop. After fiddling around a while, we closed up camp and headed into the park to drive along the Rim Drive and stop at the various overlooks. It was quite chilly, so we got out our warmer jackets. We stopped at the first couple of overlooks, but then it was raining a little harder, so skipped some of the longer walks.

By the time we got to the end of the drive, we were in the clouds and there wasn't much to see. So we headed back and stopped at the VC again to talk about which way to head out. By then it had some snow mixed in, and kept getting heavier. We decided to head east on 50 over Monarch pass, which is 11,300 feet, instead of going south to Silverton and Durango since we wouldn't be able to see much with the clouds so low.

We stopped at the Elk Creek VC to get more stamps for our parks books. It was raining with a lot of snow mixed in, and we got fairly drenched just trying to run over to the building. Mission accomplished, we were back on the road and continued on to Gunnison. We fueled up there and found a Taco Bell for our breakfast/lunch so we could get back on the road faster and see if we could beat the weather over the pass.

For a few miles before the pass it had cleared a little, but near the top and a few miles down the east side it was blowing snow, and had some built up on the road. Slow and easy got us through it and safely down the other side.

We headed south toward the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The state park nearby had already closed for the season, so we proceeded on to the national park. At the VC we got our books stamped, and went in to watch the video. Instead of the video, we had a presentation by a ranger about the sand dunes and Mars. She is a geologist and had a very interesting presentation. She explained how and why these dunes don't move, and talked about how they study these dunes to compare them to the sand dunes on Mars. She also talked about the zebra stripes on the dunes that were visible today because of the weather. Normally the stripes are visible for only a few hours, and during the year not very many people get to see them. Here we are again getting in on the unexpected. By the end of her talk it was starting to snow, with very small patches showing up on the dunes.

The park entrance

See the zebra stripes? We were lucky to see them

The next morning after the snow

End of the dune with mountain in background

We went on to the campground and got set up for the night. It was still blowing snow, and very cold. We had soup and sandwiches and then settled in for the night, hoping we wouldn't be totally snowed in by morning.

Our campsites at the Great Sand Dunes.

Our National Parks are really a treasure. We have seen so many natural features as we travel around.   We are really enjoying each one, and are thankful we have this opportunity.

w