This past weekend we took off for Great Sand Dunes National Preserve.
This has become something of a ritual trip with us this time of year. We've done the Medano Pass Primitive Road several times, and like hiking the trails.
This trip we stayed in Pinion Flats campground on the Preserve. We have stayed here before, tent camping and in our pop up.
Pinion Flats is bare bones. There's no electricity or water on site. Many of the sites are very small, well-suited to tent camping and small trailers or self-contained campers. If you decide to try for a Pinion Flats site, pay very close attention to the description in the booking process. If a site descriptor says 'RV to 20 feet' then take it as gospel, and the closer it is to that footage, the tighter it will be for parking your tow vehicle. Satellite surveillance via Google is helpful.
Though each of the loops has Campbell hydrants for water, the hydrants do not have a threaded connector. In other words, you cannot hook up a hose to fill your tank. You can get potable water at the dump station. It is well separated from the non-potable water for flushing out black and grey tanks and hoses. There is no threaded connector on this one, either, but it’s a flexible tubing with a fitting that allows filling.
The dump station is situated on a slope. For a Cassie, this was helpful in draining the grey tank, though we still had to toss a leveling block under the off side to get a proper 'lean' into the dump tank.
Each of the loops has 'real' bathrooms; that is, flush toilets, and sinks. They are clean and well-maintained. There is a dish-washing station at each of the bathroom buildings.
Our site was nicely shaded by pinions, though we were able to get a good sunny spot up the hill a bit for our solar panel. This is where a long extension cable is handy; ours is a thirty-footer.
All the sites are paved for parking RV and tow vehicle, with gravel pads for the fire ring and picnic table.
We hiked the Mosca trail, and the Montville nature trail, and part of the Ditch trail. We didn't do any part of Sand Ramp; this one is for either younger people or older folks who are insanely fit: "... after the first two miles, much of this trail is sandy soil or pure sand, up and down along the foothills, so this hike can be grueling. Allow for more time than the mileage indicates."
Yeah.
The foliage is not anywhere near peak yet. In fact, the aspens were just starting to turn. La Veta Pass used to be ablaze with aspens cloaked in fall yellow and gold but since the fire, there's far more Gambel oak than aspens.
Our last night there, there was a rip-snorter of a mountain thunderstorm. The lightning was spectacular, as was the rain. "Gully washer" is too tame. Next morning as we packed up, it was cold and damp, but the sky was perfect and the dampness brought out the forest scent so strongly it was like a drug. There was snow on Herard and some of the other peaks.
On the way back we stopped at the Veterans' Park in Fort Garland. The Squeeze was intent on scarfing up more milkweed, and snagged some additional rabbit brush as well. While there was plenty of both in the park, The Squeeze will not filch stuff from the parks and national forests. So she picked it alongside the county road by the city park. Item of interest ... there is a T-33 at the park. Well, the signage says it's a USAF T-33, but it isn't. It's actually a US Navy version of the T-bird.
Then we hied for home down US 160 to Walsenburg and thence on CO 10. The prairie is still quite green and wondrous.
A good time was had by all.
