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Archive 2017 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

JLRII
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

This past January, I spent a night on the dunes of Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park. I arrived at the park's visitor center at around 4:15pm on a Saturday, spoke with rangers about conditions and possible campsites, was issued a backcountry permit, hiked into the dunes through a snow flurry, stopped for the night after darkness fell and falling snow caused visibility to taper off at several hundred feet. My alarm went off at 4:30am the next morning for moonrise and again at 6:30am for dawn. I'll start off with what I consider the best image of the trip, captured at sunrise, followed by a few more at moonrise, dawn, and daybreak.

Sunrise, Great Sand Dunes backcountry

Moonrise over the Sangre de Cristo range

Daybreak, Sangre de Cristo mountains

Dawn, Great Sand Dunes National Park

Aug 04, 2017 at 11:27 AM

xterra07
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Very nice set

Aug 04, 2017 at 11:59 AM

01Ryan10
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Spectacular!

Aug 04, 2017 at 12:20 PM

RMC cichlids
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great set of images Joseph! the 1st one is superb! And cool last name as it reminds me of my fave town in Colorado.

Aug 04, 2017 at 12:33 PM

JLRII
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

RMC cichlids wrote:
Great set of images Joseph! the 1st one is superb! And cool last name as it reminds me of my fave town in Colorado.

Thanks, I've been meaning to stop there for a visit as I've heard good things about the town. Hopefully I can make it happen this fall, I've been toying with the idea of a road trip to San Juan National Forest this September.

Aug 04, 2017 at 12:43 PM

RMC cichlids
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Ridgway is an awesome area for fall colors. Great to use as a home base while visiting the entire area of SW Colorado. It would have been cool to meet up down there this year. I know that area very well for fall colors and wildflower season. Unfortunately I will not be around this year for fall colors as I'm travelling overseas for 2-3 months. Nice Flickr account, I started following you...

Aug 04, 2017 at 03:26 PM

Don George
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Very unique set of images. That first one must have had your heart pumping.

Aug 04, 2017 at 10:58 PM

JLRII
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Don George wrote:
That first one must have had your heart pumping.

Indeed. I've been shooting landscapes long enough to know just how fleeting those moments can be (especially when you aren't ready for them - thankfully that wasn't the case for this one, I had already dialed-in on the composition well before the clouds lit up).

Aug 05, 2017 at 06:50 PM

mikev3
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

Fantastic effort!

Aug 05, 2017 at 07:31 PM

npolta
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

awesome images to come away with. Probably was a bit cold in those pre-dawn moments, so I commend you for your commitment

Aug 07, 2017 at 01:08 PM

JLRII
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Winter in Great Sand Dunes National Park

npolta wrote:
awesome images to come away with. Probably was a bit cold in those pre-dawn moments, so I commend you for your commitment

It was quite cold all the way through. I would estimate overnight temps dropped to at least 10°F (-12°C), likely lower. My shelter for the evening was a fully-enclosed double wall winter mountaineering tent, I had a sleeping bag rated to 20°F (a western mountaineering UltraLite), multiple sleeping pads, and slept in all of the clothes I brought with me (which included a down jacket with 7oz/210g of 850FP), my torso was fine but my legs were a bit cold (just had on a wool baselayer, 100 weight fleece pants, and a pair of fjallraven vidda pro trousers). Next time around I'm bringing with either my down mountaineering pants (left them in the car for this shoot, didn't really have space in my pack for them and wasn't expecting temps to drop as much as they did) or will invest in a warmer sleeping bag. I would also recommend at least a pair of microspikes to anyone interested in attempting a shoot in similar conditions, those frozen dunes get slick.

Aug 07, 2017 at 03:23 PM


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