June 23, 24, 25 -- Great Sand Dune NP and train ride

Headed to the Great Sand Dunes, which means back to a more arid environment. Went over several passes of 10,000 feet; very pretty, then slowly descended to the desert valley. The San Luis Valley varies from 10 to 100 miles wide and seems to be surrounded by mountains. Very fertile with irrigation; second largest potato producer in the U.S. We saw several forest fires in the distance, and realized they were right at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. We camped at San Luis Lake State Park about 10 miles from the dunes; very arid and almost deserted. Over to the national park and the fire was quite visible from the park, with big balls of fire and lots of billowing smoke. A slight shift in the wind pattern and they would be evacuating the campground, or if another direction it might cause our campground to close that is 10 miles away. It was actually pretty exciting. Next day we tried to take our preferred hike at the dunes, but it had been closed due to the fire. We took another which afforded great views of the dunes from up high in the surrounding forest. Then went to Zapata Falls, a half mile hike to a falls that can only be seen by hiking 100 feet through a roaring creek and entering a cave. That part of the hiking was pretty treacherous, so Sue declined. It was quite a view in the cave. On the return, I had to help an 8-year old get back; his Dad had gone forward with a little sister and the boy was terrified of proceeding. But we got back in one piece, and he was even enjoying it by the time we got out of the stream. That night the sunset was spectacular and the moon almost full and darting in and out of odd-shaped clouds. Quite a beautiful entertainment. Next day we took the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, but again got bit by the fire bug. Turns out some vandals had set fire to one of the trestles on the second half of the ride, so we could only go on the first half from Antonito to Osier. (And Emil, Grandma and Grandpa saw Thomas the Train working very hard; he took enough of a rest for us to get a good picture.) It was still quite nice, gradually moving up a series of plateaus until it entered Toltec Gorge with sheer rock walls. Big lunch provided in Osier, accessible only by train and unpaved roads. Up above 10,000 feet and rather inaccessible. All this was quite nice, but the national and state parks were plagued with no see ums and mosquitoes. We just about ran out of repellent, which was not always successful. Also, when we returned from the train trip, a Friday night, much to our surprise the campground was full.