The weather is great. I was there all day working on this sketch but I took a long break and walked with the camera to take pix for my blogging friends.
Yesterday I wasn’t happy with my sketch because it didn’t show the panoramic view I hoped to get. I was sitting on a small dune to do the sketch. Today I sat on a bench behind the visitor center which is about 1/2 mile back from the dune and I think it came out better. I worked on my charcoal sketch for hours first. I find it difficult to do a panoramic sketch. The sketch keeps getting bigger and bigger as I’m going which means it’s out of control.
At least this is showing the scale of the dunes better because of the trees. The dunes are 750 feet tall, the largest sand dunes in North America.
Some wild flowers, asters, I guess.
Rabbit brush. The plaque says cows don’t like to eat it. Someone used the area to graze cattle and now there’s a lot of this because they ate all the tastier plants. That was long ago.
yucca. They’re small for a yucca. I think that’s what it is though. If not, please tell me.
horse brush
fringed sage. It’s a very delicate plant. This is a close up.
The two main grasses are blue grama grass and Indian rice grass. Aren’t they soft and delicate looking? I don’t know what the reddish brown plants are.
I learned so much today about this unusual ecosystem in the park. It has so many layers and they all depend on each other.
Elevation : 8170 feet. San Louis Valley with Sangre De Christo mountains.
Tomorrow I’m off to Taos New Mexico, which isn’t too far from here.