2017 Travels, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Buffalo Pass Campground in Colorado

Jim climbs to the top of a dune after an afternoon thunderstorm.

Great Sand Dunes National Park is always a great place to stay if you pass this way. We stayed here during the last week in July during the Monsoon rain season. There's a great Visitor Center and the Pinyon Flats Campground were we stay is more suited to tents and small rigs like ours but there are some sites that large rigs can fit into. The sites have no hookups, there are nice flush toilet facilities, dish washing sink and water is available at taps. The cost is $20 per night, $10 with the Senior Pass.

Jim stands on top of a dune enjoying the view.

We arrived at Great Sand Dunes after a thunderstorm which dampened and packed the sand. Walking up the dunes was like waking on pavement, no sliding back in the sand with each step.

Patterns in the dunes.

It was windy as the thunderstorm dissipated but the damp dunes meant no blowing sand and a pleasing afternoon hike.

Dunes and more dunes.

Medano Creek flows between the dunes and Pinyon Flats Campground
but it's only a few inches deep and easy to wade across.

A cloud eye appears in the darkening sky and most everyone in the campground comes out to take pictures.
It's what campers do.

There are other hikes beside walking the dunes. We spend the next day hiking the 8.5 mile Medano Creek Loop Trail between the dunes and the base of the mountain range.

Hiking the Medano Creek Loop.

Hiking the Medano Creek Loop.

A view of the dunes from the Medano Creek Loop.

Mule Deer are residents of the Great Sand Dunes.

Bee Balm is blooming everywhere.

A old juniper stump become sculpture.

We take one more hike on the dunes before leaving for our next destination. It's a beautiful sunny day and visitors are swarming on the dunes. Walk over the first set of dunes and there is no one to be see. That is what we do and find dune solitude.

From our point of view at the top of a dune, people, looking like ants, swarm onto the dunes from the Visitor Center. 

We hike up the dunes, away from the crowds and into the wilds.

Light and shadow on the dunes.

A dune yet unclimbed.

Dunes with no foot prints.

We leave Great Sand Dunes to travel north to the town of Saguache and take highway 114 toward Cochetopa Pass. We stay at Buffalo Pass Campground in the Rio Grande National Forest about a mile from the highway on the climb to the pass. It's a primitive campground in a beautiful stand of aspen and pine surrounding flower-filled meadows. There are no hookups or water, only vault toilets. A perfect, peaceful place. The rate is $5 per night, $2.50 with the Senior Pass.

Our campsite at Buffalo Pass Campground in the Rio Grande National Forest on the east side of Cochetopa Pass.

The view from our campsite at Buffalo Pass.

The view from our campsite at Buffalo Pass.

Every time we come to the San Luis Valley we have to bicycle up Cochetopa Pass. It's a tradition. Highway 114 is a good 2-lane bicycling road with some logging and big rig traffic but the road is good shape with wide shoulders especially at the top of the pass, and the truckers are courteous. In general traffic is very light. The climb steepens towards the top of the pass which summits at 10,135 ft.

On the way to Cochetopa Pass.

Jim at Cochetopa Pass, 10,135 ft.

The rides are so much fun that we bicycled to the top of the pass from both the east and west side to enjoy the scenery and of course, the ride back down. If you're a cyclist this is a ride to go out of your way for.

Got Nuts? A Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel checks things out.

Our next stop will be a visit to our friends in Buena Vista for an ATV adventure over Tincup Pass plus an outstanding hike.

Until Next Time,
Jackie

2017 Travels, Creede, Inspiration Point, Bicycling Spring Creek Pass in Colorado

Our camp site at the Marshall Park FS CG west of Creede along the Rio Grande River.

Marshall Park FS CG, Rio Grande National Forest. This is the closest Forest Service campground to Creede. We stayed here two nights so we could hike the Inspiration Point Trail. The campground is primitive with vault toilets and no water. It has a nice location on the banks of the Rio Grande with accessible fishing. The cost is $18/night, $9 with Senior Pass. Creede is about a ten minute drive.

Walking the streets of Creede.

Creede. Creede is one of our favorite Colorado mountain towns. About 600 people, more or less, reside here year around. In the summer it bustles with visitors. A diversity of shops, galleries, pubs, cafes and restaurants present tantalizing and inviting store fronts in the colorful historic buildings that line the main street. We enjoy the energy that strolling the streets of this picturesque town with other visitors brings. Talk to the residents and you'll find they love living here, are welcoming and friendly. We love Creede.

Downtown Creede with its well cared for historic buildings and inviting shops and eateries.

San Juan Sports has been here forever. We always stop in when we come here and find something we need.
A collection of boots and shoes dangle from their sign.

Inspiration Point Trail, Rio Grande National Forest. This trail leaves right from Creede and will give you some incredible views of the town and mountains that encircle the Rio Grande basin.  The trail is 3.5 miles one way, steep and difficult at times with lots of rocky scree slopes to cross and a 2,300 ft. altitude gain from Creede. It took us 3 hrs. 47 minutes. We had to hustle a little as we hiked back to Creede in a thunderstorm stopping along the way to put on rain gear. The trailhead sign and an article in the Creede Visitor Guide said the distance was only 2 miles one way so we had expected to be back to town before the afternoon rains. Later we found a chart in the visitor guide that gave the correct mileage of 3.5 to the point. 

Looking down on Creede as we begin hiking up the trail to Inspiration Point.

From higher up the trail we look down on Creede tucked into its sheltering bowl in the upper Rio Grande basin.
The San Juan Mountains are in the background.

Inspiration Point has a dramatic view of the Rio Grande basin, East Willow Creek, mountain peaks and old mines high on the scree slopes of East Willow.

Looking up East Willow Creek from the trail to Inspiration Point above Creede.

Looking across East Willow Creek to the historic mines as we hike up the trail to Inspiration Point.

Looking down at Creede from Inspiration Point and a lunch break. 

Things to pack with you when day-hiking the Colorado mountains in summer: Rain pants and jacket, at least 2 qtrs. of water plus a water filter or chemical treatment, plenty of snacks, med kit, sun and bug screen. People often underestimate the amount of water needed. Altitude and intense sun can dehydrate you more quickly than you expect. Wear a broad-brim hat.

Jim listens to a description on his headset of one of the mining dioramas
in the Underground Mining Museum in Creede.

Creede Underground Mining Museum. The museum was really a surprise, educational and fun. A gift shop and community center are located in rooms blasted out of solid rock. The Mining Museum is in a U-shaped tunnel with stations along the way showing the various jobs and techniques used in the early mining days when Creede was founded. Take a guided tour or go on your own. The cost for individual admission is $6 per person and head phones and a thumb-sized recorder are provided. The narrator is excellent with a twist of humor.

Ore bucket at one of the dioramas in the Underground Mining Museum.

Mining equipment diorama.

A diorama showing hazardous conditions in the mines.

Silver Thread Campground, Rio Grande National Forest. We move back up the valley to the Silver Thread Campground on Highway 149 about half way between Creede and Lake City. It’s a pleasing campground with 10 sites in a stand of aspen and spruce. The campground is primitive with vault toilets and piped water. The cost is $17/night, $8.50 with Senior Pass.

Our campsite among the aspen at Silver Thread Campground.

Aspens at Silver Thread Campground.

South Clear Creek Falls. A short two tenth of a mile trail goes from Silver Thread Campground to the beautiful South Clear Creek Falls. There are a few parking spaces at the campground for non-campers to park and visit the falls.

South Clear Creek Falls at Silver Thread Campground.

South Clear Creek Falls at Silver Thread Campground.

We camped at Silver Thread so we could bicycle to Spring Creek Pass on Hwy 149. The campground is at 9700 ft. and the pass is at 10,898 for an altitude gain of 1,198 in 10 miles. The ride wasn’t long but the country was beautiful as the road curved up a broad, open valley with beaver lodges and ponds. Pull offs with Forest Service educational panels on geology and wildlife along the way offer places to stop for scenic views and photos.  The ascent isn’t steep, traffic is light and the road has shoulders we can pull onto when vehicles pass. Spring Creek Pass is on the Continental Divide and there is a rest area and trailhead parking for hikers. The ride back down the pass to our camp was really fun and fast.

Bicycling Hwy 114 from Silver Thread Campground to Spring Creek Pass.

Along the way we took a side road to visit the spectacular North Clear Creek Falls about a mile off Hwy 149 on a paved road.

Me at the powerful North Clear Creek Falls. 

An easy climb up to Spring Creek Pass.

Spring Creek Pass on Hwy 149 between Creede and Lake City.

The next stop in our travels will be Great Sands Dunes National Park, always a favorite place to stay when we pass this way.
Until next time.
Jackie