"In Search Of Medano Creek" (Medano Creek Near The Dunes - May 6, 2006) |
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After hiking the Mosca Pass Trail, I was ready to have an adventure with the dunes. One of my hopes from my visit was to see Medano Creek running alongside the sand dunes, and the best chance to see that is the spring time, when the snow is melting off the mountains. |
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Sadly, Medano Creek was not running at the main entrance to the dunes. See that large flat area that approaches the dunes? That is the creek bed for Medano Creek! Ah, but from looking way up the creek from the visitor center, I could see water running way up there. It would take a 15 to 20 minute hike up the creek bed to reach the water. |
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One picture of the beautiful blue sky and clouds above the Great Sand Dunes. Man, what a place! |
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Walking in the creek bed, I snapped this shot of some cottonwoods(?) starting to sprout with the Sangre De Cristo Mountains in the background. |
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Hooray! There it is. Medano Creek! :) |
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Now this is definitely an odd geological feature, and it happens to many of the creeks in the San Luis Valley. Medano Creek sort of "vanishes" - It actually sinks into the ground and contributes to a large aquifer below the San Luis Valley. Eventually, this water will somehow meet up with the Rio Grande, the main tributary river in the valley. |
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The water wasn't much, but it was still quite pleasant to see. During this visit to the dunes, I was not in the mood to do any major hiking of the dunes themselves. Enjoying Medano Creek was quite a treat. |
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One more shot. |
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Folks, the Great Sand Dunes is one of those places that I think everyone needs to see once in their lifetime. You really ought to visit it! |
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