Great Sand Dunes

I'm thinking about taking my budding photographer Son down to the Great Sand Dunes area for the long weekend. We may head down to Taos or over to Mesa Verde also.

I know the general lay of the land but it has been many years since I've been to the dunes. Any tips about locations, best times, etc? I hear it can be windy in the winter.

Thanks!
Kalin

Getting on the dunes is always great and you can find compelling subject matter any time of day - good opportunities for intimate and abstract shots. I personall like shooting sunrise and sunset from the sandsheet, near the entrance to the Park. You can park at a pull out and hike a few minutes out onto the sheet.

Not sure about the wind, but the temps down there have been downright frigid recently. And with even colder weather coming, be careful. I've seen forecasts for -20 degrees Saturday and Sunday night. That area gets colder than just about any other area in CO this time of year.

Temps like that may preclude sleeping in the 4Runner! Thanks, Rick.

Kalin, I'm not gonna be the best at giving you location ideas, but check out Darren's great write up and images on the Dunes. Also, at the bottom of that page are some more good links to check out!

http://www.mycolorado.org/sand_dunes.html

And take heed of Rick's words about the cold.! Rick, remember that time a couple January's ago? I'm pretty sure Rick left a couple fingers behnd at the Dunes campground!! I however was fairly toasty in the back of my 4Runner. Well, at least until I got out of my zero degree bag!

Have a blast, and of course we'll want to see lots of pictures!!! Good luck!

The Dunes don't get light at sunrise so sunset is often more interesting. The problem is that if you shoot sunset from the dunes you have to walk back in the dark. It may not be easy to find your way, and you don't want to get lost at night this time of year.

If you want a photo with a neverending sea of dunes, you have to hike up to the top of the ridge of the dunes at the south end of the dune field. With a camera backpack this normally takes me around an hour (then a couple hours to figure out where I want to put my tripod)

As Rick mentions, the turnouts near the park entrance, or short hikes from them, are good places to take shots of the dunefield.

I definitely remember that outing a couple of years ago - I'm almost thawed out! It was -4 degrees and I was sleeping in a 3-season tent with a 20-degree bag. I like it really cold, but that was actually a bit much. My 'friends' were sleeping in their trucks with coleman heaters... some friends! The rangers thought all of us were nuts. The breakfast at the Campus Cafe in Alamosa made it all worthwhile though!

The weather around Alamosa isn't looking too good for this weekend. Maybe I'll head to the Page area and explore slot canyons. My wife thinks I need to stay here but I really don't want to spend another weekend moving snow!