The park contains the tallest sand dunes in North America, up to 750 feet tall. The dunes cover an area of about 30 sq mi and are estimated to contain over 1.2 cubic miles of sand. Sediments from the surrounding mountains filled the valley over geologic time periods. After lakes within the valley receded, exposed sand was blown by the predominant southwest winds toward the Sangre de Cristos, eventually forming the dune field over an estimated tens of thousands of years. The four primary components of the Great Sand Dunes system are the mountain watershed, the dune field, the sand sheet, and the sabkha. Ecosystems within the mountain watershed include alpine tundra, subalpine forests, montane woodlands, and riparian zones
Secret Beach is in the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor in southern Oregon. It's not a secret just fairly secluded.
Captured this in the Jededia Smith Redwood State Park in California on my first day just before getting to the Oregon coast.
I visited the Blanca Wetlands NWR just after a snow squall was lifting out of the valley. I amazes me how the trees out here can weather the harsh conditions. The valley floor doen't get much snow accumulation but instead it receives more that it's share of bitter cold. Yet they survive
The Blanca Massif peaking out between the clouds after a snow storm.
This is a reconstructed Kiva used by the Ancestral Puebloan People
