Day 84 (Wednesday 9/12/12)- Sand Dunes National Park, CO

I picked a bad day to sleep in. We didn't get on the road until after 11 and the sky looked angry as we entered the Sand Dunes park . It only got worse. We had originally hoped the rain would hold off until later in the day,  as it descended we then hoped that it would blow over before long. By the end of the day we just hoped to not be taken away by a flood.

 

During our stay the park received one-sixth of its total annual rainfall! When white starting dusting the mountain tops we knew that had somehow bypassed fall altogether and had straightaway entered into winter.

In the late afternoon we left the shelter of the van to attend a ranger talk regarding the park's connection with Mars. The sand dunes are the closest match in North America to the dunes on Mars and  NASA and other scientists frequent the park. There is also a yearly robotics challenge to test if college students can build rovers that can conquer the treacherous terrain of the dunes.
　

During the talk we learned about the different rovers that have landed on Mars, including the most recent, Curiosity, which weighs a ton and is the size of a mini cooper. Then there's Opportunity which was expected to last only 90 days and is still roving after 8 years!
The sand dunes are both North America's highest and our nation's newest national park. The dunes are kept in place by strong winds that blow sand into a pair of creeks that run along the sides of the dunes. These creeks then carry the sand and deposit it at the opposite end of the dunes, so despite the sand's constant movement, the dunes hardly change in size or shape.

Beautiful day at the Sand Dunes

All this just to take a picture on the beach...