GREAT Sand Dunes!

Apologies for the very choppy way this log is turning out... it's very hard to find access, and when we do, the whole family has to wait around while I try to upload pictures, etc.... life on the road is SO hectic, racing from one adventure to the next! I'm days behind already, as you can see. Oh, well... Here's what I have typed up from a couple of days ago:

We are striving mightily to live up to our Adventurer titles! Yesterday, as we approached the Great Sand Dunes National Park, it was like an instant replay of the first night of the trip: heavy black clouds dropping sheets of rain right on our destination! The big difference was that we were at 8,000 feet above sea level, in the Rocky Mountains, and when we drove straight into the downpour, we discovered that it was HAIL, not rain!

We stalled a bit, checking out the visitor’s center, and picking out a campsite, but by that time, I don’t think a category 5 hurricane could have kept Robin and Sam away from the dunes!The hail had given way to mere-smear icy rain, and the sky was only slightly darker than a bottle of ink in a coal mine, so we put on all our winter clothing, topped with raingear, and headed off.

To be continued....

Now, a hike in the dunes might sound like a day at the beach, but to get to the dunes, we had to cross Medano Creek, which while it is only a few inches deep, is about 100 feet wide, and ICY cold! We took off our shoes, hitched up our pant-legs, and crossed. We had seen warnings not to hike barefoot because the sand can reach a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit, but that didn’t seem like a very big concern that day, so we left our shoes near the creek, figuring it would be nice to feel the sand between our toes.

Which it was… for a while. As we topped the second or third dune, the texture of the sand changed from fine beach powder to 20 grit broken glass, rubbing the bottoms of our frozen feet raw, and by the time we reached the “summit,” the rain had resumed, accompanied of course by howling wind! Having attained our goal, we felt no shame in heading back to camp, but before we could get to the creek, the rain changed to something frozen: we still can’t say if it was hail or snow pellets. We of course were still barefoot, and still faced the daunting prospect of wading back across the icy stream. There were some tears, but at least the boys kept their composure, and soldiered on quite bravely!