Day 14 of Autumn 2023 Trip to Mountain States, Great Sand Dunes and Bent's Old Fort

The fourteenth day of my autumn 2023 trip to the mountain states. After checking out a very windy Great Sand Dunes in the morning, I took a long drive into Central Kansas on my way back east.

Heading east from Durango, CO, Great Sand Dunes National Park was only a short detour away from US160. The sand dunes provided sandboarding opportunities, potentially making it one of the more "fun" national parks while not requiring much physical efforts to enjoy. Considering the hours of sandboard rentals (and some other factors), I only covered a short distance of driving the previous day, and planned to leave Great Sand Dunes (together with lots of driving) for today.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Unfortunately, weather wasn't as cooperative today. Leaving Monte Vista, I drove through some intense storms on my way to Great Sand Dunes. But once I got there, there were only low-hanging clouds, no signs of rainfall. (Maybe the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains were just immune to rainfall.)
Nonetheless, just like the previous day, wind was strong at Great Sand Dunes. I was trying to rent a sandboard at "Oasis resort", and the gentleman at the rental shop kindly reminded me that the wind would make it a "different experience" and suggested me to "cover up". After some hesitancy, I decided to check out the sand dunes first and decided later, which saved me 20 bucks.

At the parking lot for accessing sand dunes, I changed into sandals, but made a mistake by also removing my socks. It turned out that to reach the sand dunes, one had to cross a dry river bed (Medano Creek), made of not only sand, but also gravels. The gravels made their way between my feet and my sandals, making it quite an uncomfortable walk.

Once on the sand dunes, the strong winds were visible from the drifting sand on top of the ridges. Even while standing, my pockets were slowly being filled with sand. I found a few people sandboarding but most others weren't. At this time, I could see I wouldn't enjoying being battered by sand and wind while sandboarding.

Below is a short video that I captured of the drifting sands uphill, just to give a sense.

In addition, here's a panoramic video.

Before I left the park, I checked out the visitor center, which showed the formation of such sand dunes. In short, the San Luis Valley between San Juan Mountains to the west and Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east was once flowing with water rich in sediments. The water dried up, and the sediments were blown by the prevalent wind to the current location, forming the sand dunes. The strong winds I experienced today sort of showcased its force in transporting the sands over large distances.

In fact, the winds were so strong that I could watch the patterns of clouds dashing across the sand dunes.

Once out of the park, I drove east along CO-150/US-160, circling around the southernmost part of Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I knew Blanca Peak and Little Bear Peak were among this group, which were 2 of Colorado's 53 14ers with a challenging traverse in between them.

I planned to spend the night in central Kansas, which meant there's a long drive ahead of me. I didn't want to keep driving for the entire day, so I stopped and checked out "Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site" outside La Junta, CO.

Bent's Old Fort

This fort was located along the shores of Arkansas River, which was back then the border between United States and Mexico. Along Santa Fe Trail, it was the only permanent settlement not under the jurisdiction and control of Native Americans or Mexicans. The fort facilitated trade (mostly fur) with native American tribes, while providing shelter and supply for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail.

While the fort was abandoned in 1849 due to disease among native American tribes (and hence declining trade), the layout of the fort was carefully documented by Army Topographical Engineer Lt. James Abert, which contributed to the reconstruction of the fort as seen nowadays.

After leaving Bent's Old Fort as it closed at 4pm, I continued east. The highway passed a few cattle plants on the Eastern Plains of Colorado, with an unpleasant smell.
After dinner in Garden City, KS, it's a 2-hour dash in the dark to my overnight hotel around Great Bend, KS. For a final disappointment of the day, the high density of bugs along KS-156 was not a pleasant sight.
END