Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

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Badgerhiker
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Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by Badgerhiker »

I spent an afternoon at the sand dunes on my way to Arizona and Utah in Oct of 2018. What a great park for photography. Late afternoon to sunset is the best time to photograph the park. I liked the park so much I thought i'd post some of my photo's. Oh and one other thing. The tops of the dunes are about the same elevation as the peaks in Glacier so you will definitely feel the altitude.

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paul
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by paul »

Wow, really nice photographs. I'll need to add this to my places to visit in the coming years. Thanks for posting!
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by al_in_al »

Nice photos! Did you have a favorite trail or viewpoint?
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

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al_in_al wrote:Nice photos! Did you have a favorite trail or viewpoint?
Thanks! There is no trails in the dunes. You can wander around where ever you like looking for views or patterns in the sand. The further into the dunes that you walk, the less footprints you see. This makes for better photos. One other tip I can give you is try to walk on the ridges. They are harder than the slopes and you don't sink into the sand as much. I read there are trails into the mountains and a nice waterfall hike but I did not have time to do them.
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

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paul wrote:Wow, really nice photographs. I'll need to add this to my places to visit in the coming years. Thanks for posting!
Thanks Paul. If I get back there I'd like to camp out in the dunes. The park service issues 10 permits a day to do that. I talked to a couple of backpackers walking back from the dunes and they really loved it. They told me they did some cool astrophotography and they felt like they had the whole place to themselves.
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by paul »

Badgerhiker wrote:
paul wrote:Wow, really nice photographs. I'll need to add this to my places to visit in the coming years. Thanks for posting!
Thanks Paul. If I get back there I'd like to camp out in the dunes. The park service issues 10 permits a day to do that. I talked to a couple of backpackers walking back from the dunes and they really loved it. They told me they did some cool astrophotography and they felt like they had the whole place to themselves.
Camping out there sounds pretty cool, but I guess you'd have to carry all your water in.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by Jay w »

Badger man,

I love the photos. They remind of al-in-al's trip report to Guadalupe Mountains. The Dunes are not far from my wife's cousin, so I've eyed the trip.

Jay

ps, my brother gave me a GoPro 3, so I'm trying to figure out a creative way to use two GroPros (I have the original Hero). No ideas yet.
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by Badgerhiker »

Thanks Jay! Glad you like the photos. I think you would have a lot of fun photographing the dunes. You can really get creative with the abstract shapes of the ripples and shadows.
Here's a few more that I like.

A selfie of my shadow or something like that.
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Ripples dropping into the abyss.
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I love the lines and colors of this pic with the little footprints leading off the edge.
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Me hanging out barefoot. That's the best way to travel on the dunes if the weather is nice.
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As for the GoPro ideas. Google it. Google is the answer to everything! :D
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Re: Great Sand Dunes NP 2018

Post by JayAndersen »

Great photos Badgerhiker! This park has been on my list for a few years now but I haven't been able to make it out there. Shots like yours are making me bump it up in my "travel queue". :)
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