Mosca Pass Trail - Great Sand Dunes National Park (Pictures

Mosca Pass Trail (Pictures - May 2006)

	This morning I hiked up the Mosca Pass Trail from the Great Sand Dunes side.
	Near the beginning of the hike is a marker dedicated to Zebulon Pike, the first American to record his impressions of the Great Sand Dunes.
	It's not the greatest picture quality, but I liked this shot of these aspens.
	Folks, I am going to be honest with you. I was fairly disappointed with this trail. From the Mosca Pass Trail trailhead, it is 3.7 miles to the summit. At about 2.5 miles in, at this very spot, I turned around. The scenery was quite underwhelming, as the trail goes slowly up in a rocky canyon with very little to "wow" the hiker. There were no stunning vista of the San Luis Valley, the sand dunes or the neighboring Sangre De Cristo Mountains, and upon learning from other hikers on the trail that there was nothing exciting up the trail, I turned around.
	About 0.5 miles up the trail, this is the best view of the Sand Dunes, as seen through the "V" of the canyon. The blue sky and clouds is quite beautiful, isn't it? :)
	One token shot of me with the camera. My Suggestion: The Mosca Pass Trail is a fairly underwhelming hike. From a scenery and photography standpoint, there's not much to brag about. However, if you simply love hiking for the sake of hiking in the San Luis Valley, or if you want to reach the sand dunes from Huerfano County, this might be more worth while. Zapata Falls, located just a few miles south, might be a better option in general.

These pictures were submitted by Steve Garufi in Buena Vista, Colorado. His web site is www.ColoradoGuy.com.