"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us."
Ashley Montagu
Knowing that things have been pretty stressful at work lately, my wife encouraged me to get away for a three-day weekend right at the end of my Spring Break. She knew I could use the time to regain my center in the Great Outdoors and do some spiritual seeking. Grateful for her suggestion, I settled on Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. It seemed the closest thing to desert conditions - and moderate temperatures, important for early Spring camping - that I could find without having to drive all the way to Utah. However, when I checked on the availability of the campgrounds inside and just outside the park, I discovered that none were open yet for the season. The ranger I talked to informed me that the only option was a BLM campground located about ten miles from the Park - high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, at 9,000 feet. The campground - named Zapata Falls - was built in 2011 with stimulus money provided by President Obama. Although the situation did not seem ideal (I figured it would still be quite cold at that elevation this time of year), I decided to go and make the best of it.
Realizing that the campground had only 29 sites, I took off early, drove five hours, and got to the entrance road about noon. After heading up the bumpy 3.5 mile gravel track and gaining about 1500 feet in elevation, I could hardly believe what I found when I arrived. From my campsite, the entire San Luis Valley was spread out before me, almost completely rimmed in mountains. What a sense of spaciousness I felt! The experience was like that of climbing to the exhilarating crest of a roller coaster track just before descending to the depths below. To the south, I could see the dormant volcanoes of northern New Mexico. To the west, the peaks of the San Juans spread out. To the north, the Collegiate Peaks jutted up. To the northeast, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains - with the Great Sand Dunes lying just in front - revealed themselves in all of their glory. And to the east, Blanca Peak - at 14, 351 feet - jutted up just above the campground. Blanca (Tsisnaasjini, or White Shell Mountain), is the Sacred Mountain of the East for the Dine' (Navajo) people, signaling the vast extent of traditional Navajo territory before the current reservation era. As I set up my tent, Blanca seemed IN MY FACE, calling me away from my social stresses and helping me become present IN THE MOMENT.
I got up for sunrise the next morning, and it proved to be utterly amazing, with ruddy light streaks daggering across the valley just before illuminating the entire setting. Little did I know that what at first seemed like it would be a second-best camping option turned out to be one of the most beautiful settings I've ever camped at! An additional bonus was the high pressure weather system that brought sixty degree daytime temperatures, perfect for meditation and journaling. All of my grumbling about potential frigid temperatures turned out, as is so often the case, to be completely unfounded :)
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