Colorado bound: Great Sand Dunes National Park
May 13th-14th
We left Taos early in the morning to begin our journey towards Colorado. Neither Fabien nor I had ever been to this beautiful mountainous state. The road followed the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and was relatively flat despite its elevation of around 7,000 feet. We made a stop in a small town with an old steam-driven railway, now a touristic site, which was still closed for the season. When we turned off towards the Great Sand Dunes NP, we were amazed and confused by the sight in the distance. Miles of golden sand dunes were butting up against a snow-capped mountain ridge. It was another reminder that this area now that now comprises the Colorado Plateau was a giant sea millions of years ago.
We grabbed a campsite for the evening, one of the last ones left for the weekend, and followed a mountainous trail back to the Visitor Center where we learned about the formation of this beautiful park. From there we hiked straight out into the dunes. It was late in the afternoon and the temperature was mild, so we were able to take off our shoes. It was easier to walk barefoot on the soft sand. We hiked up a number of large sand dunes to the High Dune at 650ft. The higher we got, the more the wind picked up, blowing sand back in our faces and stinging our legs. I was out of breath at the top; climbing in sand is a lot harder than climbing on level ground. We followed the dunes for a while and then hiked back down to a stream that flows at the bottom of the dunes. It’s a paradise for children and there were lots of little kiddies splashing in the ice cold water. We stuck our feet in. The temperature dropped very quickly as the sun went down- we were still at a high altitude, more than 8,000 feet before sea level and I was in my sleeping bag early.
The next morning after packing up camp, we went for another hike. This time we followed a trail through the mountains and then walked through the stream to some last sand dunes for some morning pictures. After lunch, we took an amazing road to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Tags: BIG TRIP 2011, Colorado FR, In English 2005-2006
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