Skip to main content

Day 37: Great Sand Dunes National Park

Monday, Oct 10, 2022 

The morning started with interesting conversations at the B&B with the host and some of the other guests over breakfast. One of them was a police chief from Latvia, doing US road trip on a motorbike. 

After checking out, I drove to the Santa Fe Plaza, the heart of the city and a big tourist magnet. Lots of art galleries and roadside vendors for art, jewelry, sculptures, handicrafts with both Native American and Mexican designs.

 

 

 

 


 

I also went to the Loretto Chapel to see its magic, spiral staircase. There are many mysteries and stories surrounding this staircase and its builder. It definitely draws hordes of tourists like me :-)

Next was a walk around the Saint Francis Cathedral, which borders the Plaza. In the park next to it, there was a big gathering/protest by Native Americans demanding better rights.

 

 

 

 

 

After a few hours in the Santa Fe Plaza area, it was a relatively short drive (compared to most other days)  to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  Stopped for a late, but good Mexican lunch in Alamosa, which is the gateway town for Great Sand Dunes.  However, I chose to stay at an RV park that was close to the visitor center. After checking in, I drove straight to the national park to do the most popular, but challenging hike, the High Dunes Trail. 

 

It is surprisingly strenuous to climb sand dunes when your feet keep sinking into the sand.  Had to go up and down over several smaller sand dunes, before reaching the top of High Dune, which is roughly 700 feet hgh. Decided to stay back at the top to watch the sunset.

It was a lot easier and more fun to come down from the High Dune. 

 

 

 


 

It was dark by the time I reached the car and drove back to the RV park. The Tesla was dwarfed by the huge RVs on either side. It was the first time in this trip that I slept in my car, after folding down the back seats. With the Tesla camp mode enabled, the temperature set to a balmy 70 degrees, I had a reasonably good nights sleep. All through the night, the car got charged via the 240V outlet at the site. The charging was mandatory to get out the next day to a supercharger, and the primary reason I chose to stay here.

The raw numbers for the day:

  • 201 miles driving, 13500 steps walking
  • 1 Tesla supercharger stops, overnight level 2 charging at RV park
  • 2 states - New Mexico, Colorado

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kashmir Great Lakes Trek, 2024

Kashmir Great Lakes Trek (KGL) has been on my bucket list for many years. It is known as the most beautiful trek in India, definitely one of the most popular. After lots of research and prep work, finally did the trek from July 29 - August 4 this year, along with four of my hiking buddies from the Bay Area. It was a dream come true - spectacular hiking with wonderful friends! The trailhead for the KGL trek is near Sonmarg. We carried only small daypacks during the 7-day trek. All supplies and luggage are carried by mules/horses. We had a support staff of 6 (guides, cook, etc.) for our private group of 5 hikers. Under overcast skies and the fog rolling in, we hiked past these shepherd huts at 9000 ft. These huts are used only in the summer months by the Kashmiri Gujjars (gypsies). A few hours into the hiking on the first day, we had a heavy downpour and the raingear came out. The locals were happy to see the first decent rainfall after a dry spell of 2 months. An auspicious start to our
Post a Comment
Read more

USA48 Road Trip: The Whole Story

  The whole story of my road trip across USA in a Tesla, captured in a series of blog posts below. My six-week adventure was from Sept 4, 2022 to Oct 15, 2022.  The links to the blog posts below are in chronological order. Best viewed on a larger screen  of a computer, not on a phone. Click on the photographs in the blog posts to see larger images.   Road trip across USA - Why? What? (July 10, 2022) Road trip in a Tesla - will it work? (Aug 11, 2022)  Day -2: Road Trip Delayed (Aug 27, 2022)  Day 0: Starting Road Trip Tomorrow (Sept 3, 2022)  Day 1: The Adventure Begins (Sept 4, 2022)   Day 2: A drive through Oregon (Sept 5, 2022) Day 3: Mount Rainier National Park (Sept 6, 2022)   Day 4: Reminiscing in Seattle (Sept 7, 2022) Day 5: KOA Cabin in Glacier National Park (Sept 8, 2022) Day 6: Hiking galore in Glacier National Park (Sept 9, 2022) Day 7: Drive from Glacier to Yellowstone (Sept 10, 2022)  Day 8: Yellowstone and Grand Teton (Sept 11, 2022) Day 9: Long drive in high
Post a Comment
Read more

Road trip across USA - What, Why?

Long distance trips by car or train have always fascinated me. Experiencing new places and landscapes in quick succession is an adrenaline rush, overwhelming the senses. I've done many such wonderful trips, but they have all been less than two weeks long. I finally have an opportunity to do a trip that is much longer and intense. I can't wait to go for it! The extensive road network in the US is perfect for a grand road trip across the vast country. It seems like the best way for me to experience the beautiful landscapes and meet people across all the states, through rural and urban America. To give the trip more purpose and challenge, I decided to do the trip in an electric car, cover all 48 states and hike over half a million steps. I plan to head out on this adventure end of August, 2022. Goals for the trip: Visit all 48 contiguous states in US. Visit as many national parks as possible Walk/hike a total of half a million steps in the trip Meet friends and family en route D
Post a Comment
Read more