...and our journey into the dunes begins with crossing the creek.
And this is our site on the dunes. We were allowed to camp anywhere in the dunes as long as it was west of the tallest dune. That means we had to climb a few hundred feet up some very steep sand hills with backpacks. We were content to pitch our tent as close to the edge of our allowable camping area as possible. Climbing the dunes with packs was not our favorite part of the trip.Don't we look hopeful here?
Kinda windy at the top...
Maybe the wind will calm down toward sundown.
But it keeps getting worse....
But it keeps getting worse....
We decided to climb back down to avoid being sandblasted.
Back down to the safe camp and our favorite watering hole....
The next day we tried a different hike. Looks quite peaceful doesn't it.
Until the storms rolled in with lots of lightning, thunder, rain, hail.....
Here is a shot of the dunes after the rain.
Next day we took the road back to our "home camp," thinking it would be easier than walking through sand. This is me crossing on the road. It came to my knees at one point. Looked like it would be fun to drive a four-wheel vehicle through.
We tried again to drag ourselves up the dunes....
Set up camp in the same spot minus the gale force winds....
Climbed up....
Still windy at the top....
The view atop a 500 foot sand dune....
Finally a chance to photograph the sand without eating it.
Got some good light to play with....
This is yesterday morning at sunrise. Shadows on the other side....
We woke up this morning to this sight....
All in all it was an excellent adventure. We did several more things we've never done before (sandblasted by 60 mile an hour winds, hiking in a hail storm, camping in the dunes with awesome view of the stars... our first hike in the mountains) It was great, and we will gladly tell you more later.
Love, Mom and Dad....
3 comments:
Barry Manilow
Wow, that is a lot of sand! Was it just a vast expanse of dunes or did you feel close enough to plants that you never really felt like you were in a desert? You will have to give us tips for when we go out there. How many National Parks have you gone to now?
Up in the dunes it felt like the desert... actually more like the beach at Ludington or Hoffmaster. Off the dunes, in the woods, there was plenty of water. Creeks and springs right next to the dunes. In some places the creek mixed with the sand at the edge of the dunes. What we found most interesting were the wet patches in the sand a couple hundred feet up. It had to be from springs in the dunes. And the wildflowers in the dunes surprised us. Actually, we could tell that it had been a wetter summer as we drove over because the fields in Western Nebraska and Eastern Colorado were yellow with wildflowers. Something we have never encountered on our other trips this time of year.
We totally recommend a visit to this park. Especially this time of year. We saw three other people while we were backpacking ... one nodded as he went by, the other two were just in the distance. Very cool feeling to have all that beauty to ourselves. When you go we'll give you lots of tips.
Looks like a cool place. I was wondering what it would be like because I had really no idea what the dunes in CO were like compared to MI. I figured it translated into something different and bigger. It looks like a really cool place. (Oh I said that, well now I made a message sandwich for emphasis.)
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