Sand Dunes, Great Ones

Hello. Did a couple of interesting things this weekend, although strangely enough we managed never to have our digital camera with us when we needed it. On Friday we decided on a spur of the moment trip to Great Sand Dunes National Monument. It took about three hour to drive to, but it was well worth it.

We got there as the sun was setting, casting all sort of shadows across shifting sands. The wind was blowing something fierce, but it was fairly amazing to look out at this enormous, rippling mountain of sand, behind which rose even higher mountains of stone. It's very odd. The sand dunes were formed from sand brought down on rivers from the mountains that is somehow kept in a dune formation by winds that howl up from the other direction and then circle around in the bowl created by the mountains.

The wind carried on through the night. It sometimes felt like the tent was about to go airborne, but we had it well-pegged down. Thoughts of bears (an actual hazard in these parts) kept us all sleeping lightly (accept Sage, who we could barely wake even in the light of day). We only had the next morning at the Dunes because we had to get back to the city for a dinner party that evening, but we did what we wanted to. Got a taste of driving off road down windy, sand and rock trails. Then parked and took a hike to the Dunes. We climbed as far as we could, getting pelted by blasts of sand that got into every crack and crevice. It was like a short sampler of life in a chilly Sahara. A good workout to at the altitude, something like 8,000 feet. Anyway, great stuff. We took some photos the old fashioned way, so hopefully we'll eventually be able to get them on to here.

Got home in time for dinner and then on Saturday... Well, I was suppose to go kayaking, but that didn't work out this time around. So instead we went out to Red Rocks Canyon, which is park that's essentially in town. Took our bikes and rode the paths. Lots of different mountain bike trails, most winding through red sandstone formations. Quite a few climbers in evidence. All together quite pleasant. Sorry not to have photographic evidence. We left the camera in the car!