Great Sand Dunes National Park

This past weekend, we took a trip south to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  These dunes were just breathtaking!!  They are about 30 square miles and can reach up to 750 ft in height.  It is so strange seeing these incredible dunes surrounded my mountains.  And, yep....they are the tallest dunes in the United States!  During this time of year, the runoff from the mountains travels down and creates a little creek that is just perfect for kids (and adults...and dogs...) to play in.  On the way home, we decided to take the Top of the Rockies highway to enjoy the view and a few passes.  We peaked at 11, 000 ft!!

 The dunes from the Visitor Center...

The other half of the dunes....

Chase and daddy at the Visitor Center....

Walking to Medano Creek...

Chase running down the creek....

The breathtaking dunes and beautiful sky....

More running...he was non-stop...

Us....

Chase building his tunnel in the sandbar (daddy helped...a lot!)....

Waiting for the waves.  The sand would build up and then just let go and a rush of water would come down the creek. 

Here they come!!

Splashing in the waves...

The people who attempted the hike to the top.  CRAZY!! 

Looking down the creek. 

Having fun...

Hard to imagine...but this gives you an idea of how large the dune field is.  You can see the creek on the right hand side of the photo. 

Storm coming in....

Arkansas River (we will go rafting next!)

We had a lot of snow this year, so there are still some of the peaks.