I'd like to start off by saying that each time I write about our Colorado adventures, I am reminded again and again how thankful I am to live in this beautiful part of God's creation. Some days I still can't believe we get to live here. I feel as though the Rockies give just a glimpse into the majesty of God who created each of us as individually as we are.
Back in mid-June, Caleb and I enjoyed a weekend of camping near Great Sand Dunes National Park. These sand dunes are the largest dunes in North America. I believed it after we hiked up to the 6th highest dune. Yeah, only 6th highest. We thought we had hiked up the highest dune, but later read it was only the 6th highest. High Dune looks the highest from the parking area.
When I pictured the Sand Dunes I was expecting to see a massive dessert for hundreds of miles and mountains way off in the distance. That's not how it is! I was surprised to see how the Sand Dunes are literally right up next to the mountain bases and it wasn't miles and miles of dessert but at the base of the sand dunes was green land everywhere and as far as you could see. The Sand Dunes cover about 30 square miles.
In this picture below you can see Medano Creek flowing around the base of the sand dunes. This picture also gives a good idea of how the Sand Dunes just end and then green lands begin right away and then the mountains. Such a unique place! The question everyone asked when coming here is, "How did these get here?" Scientists have their idea on how these sand dunes formed. But their ideas are still changing and growing as new research is done and discoveries are made. Their answer is based on a "broad series of events" for how the Sand Dunes came to be. The national parks service website has a "basic summary" of how geologists believe they came to be. This basic summary is still quite detailed and is too hard for me to summarize even more for a blog post. If you are curious to what geologists believe, then you can read their summary of events here. How the Sand Dunes came to be
Our panoramic view looking out over the Sand Dunes
We climbed the Sand Dunes and it was a challenging climb. For every step we took, we would slide down a couple steps. At one point Caleb said it felt even harder than climbing a 14er (a mountain peak in the Rockies above 14,000 feet in elevation. Pikes Peak for example) We went early morning for our hike. We had read the sand has read up to 150 degrees under the summer sun later in the day. I'm thankful we went as early as we did. I wore hiking sandals and as we came back down the sand was already feeling toasty on my feet.
Caleb facing the wind at the top of our climb to High Dune. Once we got closer to the top, we had to turn our backs to the wind and just wait for it calm a bit. The wind really threw the sand up onto your arms and faces. I wore my jacket for most of the climb to protect my arms.
Medano Creek is what brings visitors to the national park. Okay yes, the Sand Dunes are pretty fascinating too and they draw in the crowds. But Medano Creek flows during May and June. These months are the busiest months with visitors. The creek is from snowmelt from the mountains. Usually by mid-June to the end of June the creek is dried up. While we were there mid-June, the water was about 1-4 inches deep. It was refreshing to walk in after our hike up the Sand Dunes.
Medano Creek is pretty wide. When I hear the word creek I think of a small stream trickling through a forest. When I saw Medano Creek, the word river came to my mind to describe it. Especially when it would be covered with flowing water it would look like a river.
When we go camping, Caleb enjoys doing all of the cooking. and I feel like I'm being pampered while I sit and watch him cook. The campsites in the national park campground were already full which we knew was the case. We had looked about a month before our trip and the campground was already all reserved. We stayed at another campground just a mile down the road from the national park. We had a great view of the Sand Dunes from our campsite. The first picture on this blog post was taken from our campsite.
The parents-to-be! Krista & Daniel are expecting their first child November 12th. It's a Girl!
The wind kept the heat tamed. Caleb was cold sitting here on the creek bank without a jacket.
We enjoyed seeing this unique place. It had been on our list of things to see in Colorado before we moved here. I would say that after 2 years of living here, it was about time we did it. We enjoyed spending time with Krista and Daniel and little baby girl which we all affectionately call Consuela thanks to Caleb giving her that nickname for now. I have to be real and honest about the good and the bad of our adventures. What we did not enjoy was the pretty consistent strong wind and sand flying into our tent due to the strong winds. The inside of our tent was gritty covered with sand and dirt even with our tent cover on and tied down as well as we could get it. We were both ready for a shower when we got home! But we were still glad we experienced Great Sand Dunes National Park.
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