IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Sticking with the sprinkler theme from yesterday, I headed out and took this photo of one of my sprinklers shortly before the sun was about to set.

While my sprinklers were on this evening, I headed out with my camera to see what I could capture. I zoomed in during this shot of the grass, sprinklers and the tree in the middle of my backyard. I like the effect. I might just do a sprinkler theme the next few days 🙂

Before heading home today, Amanda and I headed back to Great Sand Dunes National Park for a short hike on the Montville Nature Trail. This trail followed Mosca Creek for a little ways which was still iced over in a few places. What I like about this photo is the rushing water that is seen through the hole in the ice, plus the small waterfall beyond that and tree that is diagonal through the frame.

After climbing up a soft dune, I turned around and took this photo of my tracks switchbacking up the side with Medano Creek below. I was hoping for a good view from the top, but all I was greeted with was another large dune that blocked my view. Mosca Pass and Carbonate Mountain fill in the background of this photo nicely.

We took a break from the dunes today and hiked up to Zapata Falls. We weren’t sure what to expect since we knew you normally had to walk through the creek to reach the falls located in a short slot canyon, and it was a little too cold outside for that today. When we reached the creek, we were lucky to find it was still iced over. It was a little nerve-wracking walking on the ice while hearing the creek flowing right below us, but luckily it was still strong enough to support our weight.

This last photo I am adding as a bonus today, mainly because I hiked up to the top of High Dune (650 feet) and was greeted with a great view of the rest of the dunefield with Mount Herrard and Cleveland Peak towering above.

While sticking around for sunset at Great Sand Dunes National Park, we were treated to some excellent colors and cloud formations above the dunes. This was one of my favorites that I took this evening.

The North Clear Creek Falls is believed to be the most-photographed waterfall in Colorado. While that may be true, we had the falls all to ourselves today. The gate at the highway leading to the falls was still locked for the winter, so Amanda and I hiked through the cold wind to reach the falls on foot.

Since this is the first time I have ever caught a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep with my camera, I just had to add it as a second bonus photo for the day!