The Great Sand Dunes are just like that.
Except 750 feet high!! In the middle of a valley! Pretty spectacular huh?!
Know how when you go for a walk on the beach and no one ever walks in the loose sand because it is a pain in the butt? It’s just like that.
Except at a 60% grade or something ridiculous!! The dunes just about destroyed me… I am certainly not a kid anymore. I’m a big boy. And terribly out of shape. There isn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s hot.
Now I know why people don’t make it through the desert…
I made it, but it took forever. At some points it felt like I only got 10 more feet higher before I had to take a breather… Had a couple kids cruise past me at one point. Awesome. Oh the suffering, totally worth it!
Of course, we didn’t even climb the highest one, the Star Dune. At 750 feet, it is the tallest dune in North America. The High Dune, which is what we climbed, is nothing to sniff at at 650 feet though… And the views were spectacular regardless!
A quick note, I realize that our pictures of the Plains and Great Sand Dunes are severely lacking when it comes to capturing the grandeur that we are seeing… But I hope that you at least get a good idea of it from them. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming…
The trip down? Awesome! We felt like we were GI Joe’s with those human accelerator suits on. All of a sudden, instead of the Sahara, we were cruising through a huge sand box. People had sleds and snowboards. They apparently hold sculpture events sometimes as well.
As you might expect, we were wicked tired. And had picked up a ton of sand in our shoes as well…
But we made it back to the RV and cleaned up as best we could. The Dunes brochure remarked that most people find a trip to the top of the High Dune to be all the exercise they could ask for. Well, we would not be defeated by the sand! After some lunch and a quick nap, we were on our way to a recreation area we had noticed on the way into the Great Sand Dunes Park, Zapata Falls.
To get to the falls, we first had to drive 3 miles up a twisting and turning gravel road, which of course was as bumpy as a washboard. Driving at 5 miles an hour with stupid SUVs whizzing past us… But we made it to the top and parked. Immediately we are greeted with a great view of the Dunes!
Then it was a quick half mile hike up. Felt like nothing compared to our morning suffering. I realized it is soooo nice when my foot placement holds each time I step, instead of shifting back towards me like a stairmaster... Soon we had reached the top of the trail and found a bubbling creek.
We could hear a waterfall, but couldn’t see it. Just up the creek was a 30 foot gorge, with an ankle deep creek running out of the bottom…
Our only option, time to go barefoot!! Man, that water’s cold!
But we’re tough, we’re from Maine, plus it felt great compared to the heat of the morning. So onwards! Around the first bend, still more gorge…
Then around the next bend we had found the waterfall…
Very cool, but Edmond’s aren’t happy with merely seeing. We must explore! So we climbed up the first little waterfall to the base of the large one. Dad would have loved it...
Really cool experience seeing a waterfall while being in the same gorge with it… But of course we weren’t done exploring; we had to check out where all that water came from! Invigorated by the cool waters, we somehow still had strength enough to scramble up to the top of the gorge. And another great view of the valley…
By the time we got back down to the RV, it was only really about 5pm. But we were exhausted and starving, so dinner time. With a great view no less!
Another quick nap and then it was back down the washboard gravel road. Brakes smell awesome don’t they?? Once back onto paved road, we said our farewells to the San Luis Valley. Our target, a Walmart outside of Colorado Springs, CO.
What a great day!! We certainly went through fire and ice, but came out all the better for it on the other side… The Great Sand Dunes are awesome to experience. Especially for geology and natural phenomena dorks like myself. The Zapata Falls were a fun way to experience a waterfall as well.
A busy day in Colorado Springs awaited us. But falling asleep would definitely not be an issue…
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