Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Great Sand Dunes National Park




Is this really Colorado? Sand dunes are supposed to be in North Africa. With a mountain range right behind them, they don't look that big. Get up close and they are huge. We tried to climb a steep one and failed. Picture the effort required to run on sand multiplied by the effort required to run up stadium steps. Now lose 75% of each step to sliding sand and you get the picture. I wore about pretty quick.

Running down dunes was awesome. W felt like we were five years old doing summersaults, barrel roles, and back slides down the slope. Each jump sets off mini sand avalanches that roll down the slope in slow motion. We had a blast. The downside – sand everywhere.





 
Past the sand dunes is the 4x4 trail up Medano creek. The trail crosses the creek nine times. The first crossing is 24” deep. It's an odd sound when the water hits the floor pan and the fan belts start flinging water, but the jeep took it in stride and we continued on. Soft sand was another obstacle, but it did make for a smoother ride than the rocks further up the pass. The pass it self was a meadow with mountain views. We chose a camp site off the trail by creek to enjoy a quiet starry night. This was much better than a day of working.


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