The Escape Dunes

Sunday evening I headed back to the dunes. It was overcast and I discovered that it had rained earlier in the day on the dunes. I was immediately upset that I had not brought my snow skate. The sand dunes website says that riding the dunes is best done after a rain. I would have to wait to find out if this is true.

This is a thing, okay? My self portrait to prove I was there. Mostly prove to me.  

An entirely different place just a day later

It was amazing to see how the personality of the sand changed in just over 24 hours. The day before, the sand was bright, tan, and Saharan in its appearance. I could pretend I was in the middle of the desert, as long as I ignored the mountains and the screaming families. Just one day later, and all the colors in the sand were brought out by the rain. The park was filled with otherworldly twilight. It was cool and wonderful.

I set out across the dry stream bed, heading north and parallel to the dunes. The map said the Escape Dunes were about a kilometer away from the main parking lot, so I was optimistic that it wouldn’t take long to get there. I had forgotten, in the space of just a day, that sand is DIFFICULT to walk in, and everything takes just a bit longer to do. Fortunately, in some areas the sand was hard which made the going much easier and quicker.

My destination was the little green patch just to the right of where that dune ends

Insert reference to Footprints in the Sand

Pretty!

It was approaching twilight

This little plant was lonely

Colors

Opps

After a while, I saw an area with some dead trees that I thought might be the escape dunes, but it was much closer than the area where I was headed. I decided I needed a better look, so I climbed up the nearest dune. I had been right the first time, so I continued heading north, but this time, on the ridge of sand I had climbed.

Going downhill in sand is fun. It almost makes you feel weightless, as you slide step by step downwards. I made it down my dune and headed into the Escape Dunes.

Path down the hill

Some of the residents of the Escape Dunes

More dead trees

Hey, it's a dead tree!

I really liked this tree and took a bunch of photos of it. I'll just show this one.

Well, they were not as neat as I thought they would be. I mean, they were cool, with the skeletons of trees reaching into the sky. But they were smaller than I had envisioned. I took some pictures and then headed back, reflecting on how the journey was more important than the destination. (Deep right?)

I found it a little weird to cross my tracks from the trip out. I got philosophical about it in my thoughts, but I will spare you that. Anyways, my overall perspective was that it was a neat thing to do. Not necessarily something that you HAVE to do when you come here though.

My tracks crossing

Bye!

The Great Sand Dunes

I have been looking forward to going to the Sand Dunes ever since I decided to do my fieldwork in Alamosa. It goes back to high school, when I discovered from the best anatomy teacher in the world, Mr. Gigliotti, that you can ride down the dunes on a ski. I bought some cheap skis at that point at never ended up going. At some point, I must have given them away because I couldn’t find them in preparation for this trip at all. I brought down my snow skate (a long plastic board just a bit shorter than my long skateboard) in hopes that it would work just as well.


It finally came time for me to go to the dunes, and I packed much lighter this time around, having learned from my Zapata Falls adventure. I headed out by 8:30 on Saturday morning because the sand can reach temperatures of upwards of 140 degrees so it’s best to visit the dunes in the morning or the evening.
The drive went quickly, and I was struck by the amount of smoke in the air. In case you don’t know, Colorado is currently on fire, and the smoke from the various infernos around the state has been pooling in the valley, giving the air the scent of camp fires and making the sunsets a beautiful blood red that almost makes you forget the damage being done to forests, homes, and lives.

The sand dunes and the mountains, shrouded in smoke

I arrived at the national park to find that I was apparently late for visiting the dunes. Families of all different shapes and sizes were trekking across the dry bed of Medano Creek (which only runs for a few weeks out of the year) towards the massive, towering dunes.  I had visited the sand dunes twice as a child, but we had never made it onto the dunes themselves. This is because blowing sand hurts and as a kid, that matters more than climbing on big hills of sand. I gathered my things, including my snow skate which I shoved through the straps of my backpack against my back, and headed out.

Self portrait starting out, just to prove I was there. Look how optimistic!

One of the MANY families at the dunes that day.

I discovered something then that I had known but forgotten living in a state that has more gravel than sand: it’s really hard and tiring to walk on sand. I mean really hard. Add to that an elevation that is about a thousand feet higher than what I was already living at in Alamosa, the temperature, which was slowly rising despite how early in the day it was, and to be honest, being not in the best shape (but I’m WORKING on it!), and I was quickly reevaluating my original goal of climbing to the top of High Dune, which, at 650 feet, is still 100 feet shy of being the highest dune in the park but appears to be the highest when you’re coming from the parking lot. 

Dunes with the mountains behind

I got across the stream bed and started up the first dune I came to. It was not easy going. This revealed to me a perk about adventuring alone: no one can hear you gasp for breath. And I was. It was wonderfully difficult, and I was instantly in love with this place. After I reached the top, I surveyed the families sledding down the dunes and decided that it was time to try out the snow skate. The website had said that this sort of thing is much better after a rain, which had not occurred. The skate didn’t move at all. I decided that since I lugged this thing across the stream bed, which I was not about to cross until I was ready to leave, I would use the skate as a chair.

So much sand!

After a short rest, I took off towards the larger dunes. I wanted to get higher, to see more, to conquer this place that was wearing me out. I sent my dad a text saying I was on the dunes, and he called me. It was weird to talk on the phone with someone while on a landscape so foreign. I texted a picture to my friend Kendall with the caption “Guess where I am right now. . .” She replied, “The Sahara Desert???” I wish. 

After climbing around, taking pictures, and resting a bit, I started down. The wind picked up and started blowing sand in my face. This was the sand dunes that I remember. Painful. I made the mistake of standing downwind of the top of a dune to make room for the largest family in the world to slowly pass. It was not pleasant. As I continued down, a man with a pack, a floppy brimmed hat, and trekking poles passed me at a respectable clip. “How is the boarding?” he asked.

“It didn’t work.” I replied.

“Oh no! And you brought that all the way up here! Well, I’m sure you can get wax for it!” he said, and continued bopping up the hill.

Tiny people playing on the dune

Tracks

Glory!

Going down the dunes is much quicker and more fun than climbing up. I got to my car before deciding to find the Escape Dunes, which is an area where the dunes are overtaking a forest. The sand surrounds the white skeletons of dead trees. Sounds awesome. After getting directions from a park ranger and discovering that it required 4 wheel drive to get to (which I totally HAVE!) I set off.

At first the 4 wheeling was fun. I absolutely love bouncing down crazy rough roads, so I was laughing and having a lovely time. I happily passed the sign saying “Point of No Return. 4 Wheel Drive required beyond this point. Strictly enforced.” A family was hiking by the road and the son was on the other side. I stopped to let them cross, but they waved me on. The stop proved to be a mistake. As I attempted to continue on, my car sunk in the deep sand. I tried to switch into 4WD low, but couldn’t. I opened the door and said, “Well it looks like I’m stuck!” to the  family.

“You shouldn’t have stopped for us.” the father said.

“You think?” I thought. He told me to put the car in neutral and then try to switch into low. It worked, but the spinning of my tires just made me sink deeper.

It was then that a phenomenon that I’ve experienced on every occasion where I have had car trouble happened again. Men started appearing. They emerged from seemingly nowhere, climbing over trees and rocks in an effort to prove their manhood through getting me out of the sand pit.

A couple of large fellows started digging behind my front tires and putting branches and rocks behind them. Three SUVs full of men appeared from behind me, and the front SUV fortunately had a wench. Forest rangers appeared. I barely had to do anything. The rocks and branches didn’t work. My tires spun uselessly in the sand, creating sand geysers taller than my car. We all pushed as one of the fellows drove. Nothing happened. Finally we hooked up the wench to my rear bumper and that worked. I thanked them all, shook their hands, and hightailed it out of there. That was more than enough excitement for one day. The Escape Dunes would have to wait until the next day. I decided to hike to them. 

Until next time. . .