Day 7 - Alamosa, CO to Trinidad, CO

Today TEAM SOLO (bikes with one rider only) would go all the way back to Amarillo, TX whereas the 3 bikes with couples would stop in Trinidad, CO.

 

As it was a short day's ride we left at around 11am and first stop was the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

The park contains the tallest dunes in North America, rising about 750 feet (230 m) from the floor. Researchers say that the dunes started forming less than 440,000 years ago.

The dunes were formed from sand and soil deposits of the Rio Grande and its tributaries. Over the ages, winds picked up sand particles from the river floor plain. As the wind lost power before crossing the Sangre de Cristo Range, the sand was deposited on the east side of the valley. This process continues, and the dunes are slowly growing. The wind changes the shape of the dunes daily.

It is very easy to experience the dune-building process. This is a very windy region, as hikers on the Sand Dunes will attest, as on many days they will be pelted by sand and even small rocks when hiking on the dunes. The wind carries sand and rocks from many miles away.

For more information about this amazing phenomenon see Great Sand Dunes.

We spent over an hour at the Visitor Center where we read information as well as watched a very informative video.

 

We also rode close to the actual dunes and walked on the sand which is very soft and fine. Some people were actually walking up the dunes which is a process that may take several hours for one to get to the top. Temperature was about 75F and the sun was starting to make the sand quite warm. Kids played in the stream that borders the dunes.

 

We had to go but felt like staying to do some more exploring.

We had a short stretch of about 75 miles and then we would start one of the highlights of the trip ... The Highway of Legends.

State Highway 12 (SH 12), also known as the Highway of Legends, is a mountainous state highway through the Rocky Mountains in southern Colorado. The route travels from La Veta through the mountains to Trinidad.

 

In the first part of the Highway, from La Veta to Cuchara you can see these amazing walls many feet high standing guard. Many geologists from around the world come here to study this unique area.

This sign really tells it all

 

For lunch we stopped in Cuchara, CO and joined some owners and their dogs at the Dog Bar for some good chow.

 

As we were sitting at lunch dark clouds started to approach and we knew we were going to get wet so we put on our rain gear and made our way towards Trinidad. How bad could it get anyway as we were only 40 miles away. It did get bad, very bad actually and we were fustigated by rain and wind and we crawled through the mountains at 30 mph. We saw deer on the road, caught some water crossings and just got very wet.

It felt good to pull into the hotel for the evening and take out all the wet stuff.

As fast as the rain clouds had appeared, they went and we were still able to witness a beautiful sunset from the hotel back porch.

 

After dinner we went to the bar and had a great conversation before calling it quits and going to bed.

It had been another very full and most enjoyable day in our ride.

Tomorrow Rick and Linda and Doug and Tammie will continue down to Texas whereas Paula and I will turn North and do one more week of adventure riding in this beautiful state.

 

Click HERE for all the pics for Day 7

 

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