The Great Sand Dunes

Blanca Peak is 14,345 feet and located south of Great Sand Dunes. Blanca mountain range is one of four sacred mountains to the Navajo (Dine') people. In the following video, Park Ranger Ravis Henry sings and tells the story of Sisnaajini (White Mountain Shell) and the importance of the Great Sand Dunes.

The Great Sand Dunes are the tallest dunes in North America and are home to diverse natural grasslands, wetlands, conifer and aspen forests, alpine lakes, and tundra.

Short History of The Great Sand Dunes

The oldest evidence of humans in the area dates back about 11,000 years. Some of the first people to enter the San Luis Valley and the Great Sand Dunes area were nomadic hunters and gatherers whose connection to the area centered around the herds of mammoths and prehistoric bison that grazed nearby. They were Stone Age people who hunted with large stone spear or dart points now identified as Clovis and Folsom points. Like nearly everyone else until about 400 years ago, they walked into the San Luis Valley. They apparently spent time here when hunting and plant gathering was good, and avoided the region during times of drought and scarcity.

First Nation and The Great Sand Dunes

Although we don’t know the names or languages of those earliest people, modern American Indian tribes were familiar with the area when Spaniards first arrived about 400 years ago. The traditional Ute word for the Great Sand Dunes is Saa waap maa nache, "sand that moves." Jicarilla Apaches settled in northern New Mexico and called the dunes Sei-anyedi, "it goes up and down." Blanca Peak, just southeast of the Dunes, is one of the four sacred mountains of the Navajo, "Sisnaajini. "While these various tribes were here at the dunes, they collected the inner layers of bark from ponderosa pine trees, using them as food and medicine. For the people from the Tewa/Tiwa-speaking along the Rio Grande, it is a different spiritual link. They remember a traditional site of great importance located in the San Luis Valley near the Dunes: the lake through which their people emerged into the present world. "Sip'ophe" ("Sandy Place Lake") is thought to be the spring(s) and/or lake(s) immediately west of the dune field. (Information supplied by www.nps.gov.)

I found The Great Sand Dunes to be another special place I initially had no idea existed in North America. It was only after I quit my very good job in California and decided to take some time to explore the world that I happened upon this place that was once a sacred place of worship to my ancestors.

I fell in love with the texture and formation of the sand. It was truly fascinating. If you look closely you will see my model walking around the dunes and in comparison man is just a small speck of dust. Literally.

As you can see I pretty much just laid in the sand and took photo after photo. You know, the kind of day that you do not need a jacket and the weather is warm and the water is perfectly tasty. This day was just like that and I cherished every moment.

I hope you like angles because I tend to start taking snapshots from many perspectives. If I could stand upside down, I think I may do that as I take photos. Alas, I am a simple girl and do the best I can.

I had been on the road for almost a month and I had to send my Mom a personal message. She was missed. Peace.

---

Camera: iPhone 6+
Photographer: @eaglespirit
Date: March 2016
Location: The Great Sand Dunes

---