On our way down to New Mexico for the long weekend, we stopped at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in south central Colorado.  This has been on our list of things to see for a while, and since it was only about an hour and half out-of-the-way, we decided that this would be the trip.  We left bright and early on Saturday morning and arrived at the Sand Dunes in the early afternoon.  After a quick stop at the visitors center, we headed toward the main parking area near the dunes.  We were warned that this was traditionally the busiest day in the entire year, and though there were many cars overflowing the lots, there didn’t seem to be too many people out on the dunes.  The biggest draw of the park seems to be Medano Creek, which flows only from spring to early summer.  The majority of the people in the park appeared to be enjoying the shallow and wide creek.

After parking the car in a picnic area near Medano Creek, we waded across the creek and on to the sand sheet.  We quickly realized that the sand was quite hot in spots, and that our sandals would have to stay on most of the time.  Our initial goal was to hike to the top of High Dune, which is around 650 feet tall.  That didn’t sound like it would be too tough, but once we were out in the dunefield, we realized it was harder than expected.  First, everyone should be able to imagine what hiking in sand is like.  Every step forward is like three steps backward.  And on top of that, the winds that whip through the dunes carry sand and small rocks with them.  At times this was very painful and we were finding sand all over ourselves even days after the hike.

We considered bailing on our initial plans to hike to the top of High Dune, but eventually decided to go for it.  We decided a slow and steady approach would be best, and I think it took us around an hour or so to summit the dune.  Once at the top the winds were so bad that we could only stay for less than a minute before beginning the trek down.  Going down was a blast, as you could easily let yourself go knowing that you wouldn’t run into anything hard or sharp.  I think I ran down most of the way, especially when the winds were kicking up sand again.  I’m not sure if the winds are always this bad, but I would definitely keep that in mind on future visits to the dunes.  Despite the wind, I’m glad we finally had the chance to spend some time exploring these wonderful sand dunes.

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