Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Go West VI - Great Sand Dunes

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved


Not the Sahara. No. Not the Arabian or the Gobi or the Kalahari. This is Colorado, the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado. They are the tallest in North America at 750 feet high. Winds blowing across the San Luis Valley brought sands from the San Juan Mountains and pilled them up at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains over a period of about 1 million years.

 Just to give you an idea of scale, those ant-like figures leaving behind trails of tiny tracks are people climbing the dunes, one standing triumphant at the top of High Dune. Average hiking time to the highest dune is about 4 hours round trip. Slipping and sliding in the sand is just part of the fun of going up. Rolling and tumbling down maybe the fastest way back!

26 comments:

  1. I'd definitely roll down! So impressive!

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  2. Another brilliant photograph Doug. Bravo in spades!

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  3. is impressive to see how different territories take turns, I think it was spectacular to see everything live

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  4. WOWman......Thats a FANTASIC picture !!!!
    great composition and colors.

    Greetings, Joop

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  5. This is an amazing photo! The contrast between colors and the sharpness are all perfect :) thanks for your comment on my blog. Come back!

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  6. Niesamowity widok. W dół łatwo zejść, ale do góry nie chciałabym się wspinać po tym piasku. Pozdrawiam.
    Amazing view. Go down easily, but I would not want to top climb the sand. Yours.

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  7. Excellent shot! The contrasting colors really make everything pop out.

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  8. Absolutely AWESOME! Great capture!

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  9. Love photographing dunes, even small one at beaches around here. The texture!

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  10. Brilliant article Doug,very well done!
    The image is breathtaking!
    Léia

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  11. Love these things so much. Simply amazing!

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  12. Awesome and powerful picture !

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  13. just amazing! my first impression was that it is maybe Africa!

    Blog about life and travelling
    Blog about cooking

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  14. I never could have guessed this was in the US. Just great.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  15. Knowing some Spanish would be quite useful in Colorado, I think.

    What? No chairlift? No way, I'm climbing that, D.
    Can I sand toboggan there?
    Now, that'd be fun.

    Lovely shot! :o)

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  16. Each photo on this travel is unique, Doug. So much variety! I love them all.

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  17. brilliant image, doug, and you could have fooled me ... it does look like the sahara (or what i think it looks like ... ;-))

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  18. Fantastic, this picture is amazing! It looks surreal.

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  19. I believe you. It´s no Sahara, but it´s GREAT!!!!
    A special sight of these dunes with a beautiful sky.
    Wonderful shot.
    Greatings, my friend Doug.

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  20. This is a fantastic shot! Love the contrast between the dunes and the sky. Great depth of field too!

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  21. Nicely composed of what looks like a great location. I like the simplicity and correlation between the piled up sand and piled up clouds

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  22. Very impressive: we seems to be in the Sahara here! I didn't know that one could find sand dunes in USA! Beautiful!
    Have a nice day.

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  23. wow, what a great photo, superb work there.

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