Is it legal to burn you loved ones? I wouldn’t think so, but among the many random places I stumbled upon this weekend in my best efforts to dodge any and all Labor Day vacationers, Crestone, Colorado seems to be ok with it. Driving through town you would swear you literally just missed a Grateful Dead show and the Dead heads were still roaming the streets in search of that last drops of LSD. Or maybe Crestone is the last stop for all the old hippie trustafarians kicked out of Boulder who will now be able to fly directly under the radar due to the UFO observatory and Alligator farm within a half hour drive.

Who new Colorado had so much to offer! Well, a lot of people I would guess. Although, it still amazes me that everywhere I go in this state I am pleasantly surprised on the vastness of landscapes it has to offer. The Great Sand Dunes National Park being no exception. We started early and drove directly towards the Sand Dunes, ignoring all warnings to lower our tire pressure due to deep sand. The road eventually became more and more remote and at times resembled a small beach front path somewhere in Mexico. After a short hike, which pretty much felt straight up we were on top of the tallest dune in the 130 square mile National park. The view was incredible and the landscaped was transformed into a scene straight out of “Dune” minus the creepy eyes.

The final leg of the trip was up through Crested Butte with a nights stay up on Kebler Pass at Lake Erwin Campground. I have this theory when shooting photos… If I’m being lazy and I don’t want to get up or maybe I think nothing will come of my efforts and I am planning of just blowing the entire thing off. Then I think to myself, every time I go shoot when I don’t want to I get some of my favorite shots. Well, this time was an exception.. I was up at 5:30am, braved the cold temps and waited two hours for a nice sunrise pic of the lake and nothing! Nothing became of it, it clouded up and by the time the sun hit everywhere I wanted it to, there was no nice warm morning glow so… you get this mediocre shot of the lake. Enjoy.

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