Camping with Dad

Ever since I heard that one could camp on the Sand Dunes, I wanted to go. Bad. My dad, always one to support a good adventure and my partner in many adventures over the course of my life, caught the vision as well. I was initially discouraged due to the intense difficulty of climbing the dunes, but after Cori and my successful summiting of High Dune, I knew it could be done. Dad started training in the Springs for our adventure, and finally the weekend was upon us.

Dad picked up our park pass on his way into town while I finished up work for the week. I packed as quickly as I could, and then I led Dad on a wild goose chase trying to find Subway so we could get dinner. Eventually we found it (so close to where I live), got our food, and headed out of town.

I felt mildly panicked. The park ranger had told Dad to be back in the park by 6 because the gates close. We were cutting it close. We ate our sandwiches and chips as we drove and Dad told me about the first time he had tried salt and vinegar chips. It was a remarkably good story involving a sit-in in Canada. We reached the gates at 6:01. The ranger said, “Welcome back!” and waved us into the park.

We parked at the designated lot and put on our packs. I got to break in my huge backpacking pack. I was a little embarrassed at the size of it for just an overnight trip, but later I was able to console myself that I used pretty much everything I had packed. Dad had purchased a pair of trekking poles for me as well. I felt pretty BA. We set off towards the dunes, cutting through a large section of the Escape Dunes. It was much cooler than the section I had found on my search.

Not my favorite picture ever of me, but I felt cool at the time.

 The going was, predictably, difficult. Hiking in sand is hard enough as it is, and it is compounded by heavy packs. The trekking poles helped immensely (SEE CORI! THEY ARE USEFUL!). The air was fairly still and the sun was on our faces. We longed for a breeze. We would soon regret that.

The dry creek was looking a little weird! This wasn't mud. 

My hero

Sand

Well where should we go from here?

 As the sun started to go down, the wind picked up. A lot. And we were pretty worn out. Eventually we came across a relatively flat and somewhat (not really) sheltered area. We were about 80% sure were could came there. (You can camp anywhere on the dunes outside the day visiting zone. But this area is hard to identify in real life). We rested briefly and then set out to put up our tent.

Sunset equals WIND

Nice view from our campsite

Have you ever put up a tent in a gale force wind with sand flying into your face? It was a struggle. It was compounded by the fact that the tent would be difficult to put up on a good day due to the way the poles were laid out. We used our pack, our feet and sometimes our legs to try to keep the canvas from blowing off. At least twice, I had to chase the small bag that had held the poles, running at a full on sprint to catch it as it, not even whimsically, blew about on the dune.

Eventually we got the tent up and I climbed in to set up my sleeping bag. Suddenly I felt cold wetness running down my leg. I looked down and saw a stream of water coming from the head of the tent. I cried out, “NO! No no no no no no!” as I quickly dug through the bags to find the source of the leak. Turns out that the bite valve of my camelbak had popped off. I replaced it and then assessed the damage. There was a nice little mud puddle in the middle of the tent. We put down one of Dad’s shirts on it, and I climbed out of the tent to let the wind dry my pants.

Wet butt

Dad keeping our tent from blowing away. Note how both knees of his pants ripped out.

Dad theorized that the wind was probably due to the sunset, and once the sun was down, the wind would die down as well. After the tent dried, we climbed in to wait out the wind. We did not bring the rain fly, so sand was blowing in through the mesh holes. We hunkered down, eating trail mix and chatting.

Eventually Dad decided to call Carrie (my stepmom). The dunes actually have great cell phone service. We got a hold of her and told her about the wind. She said she’d pray that it’d stop. Literally the minute Dad hung up the phone, the wind stopped. Although it would pick up off and on throughout the night, it was never as bad as it had been. Awesome.


Fun fact: in nature, you’re supposed to bury your waste (as in, poo and such) at least six inches deep. Well at the dunes that would preserve it forever. So they asked us to just bury it an inch deep. Doing that made me feel like a cat. I imagine cats would love the Sand Dunes. They could “go” anywhere!

First one star came out. Then another. Then it was like the sky exploded. City girls like me don’t get to see the night sky unpolluted by light very often. I tend to forget how amazing it is. The Milky Way was splashed across the sky, mingling with countless other stars and galaxies. Constellations that you can’t see in the city were clearly visible. We brought out Dad’s awesome DSLR camera and attempted to take star trail pictures. I was really into that when I was younger, but I have long since forgotten the setting you put the camera on so that you can keep the shutter open as long as you want. We found settings that opened the shutter for up to about 14 seconds, but no more than that. That was just enough that you could start to make out tiny pinpricks of light in the finished photo. Nothing like the incredible expanse that we were witnessing. Eventually we stopped trying and just looked up.

I saw three shooting stars. Dad saw two. Overall, a win for a night of stargazing. I noticed pulsing lights just over the next dune. We decided that somewhere in the valley was a thunderstorm, the lightning of which we could just make out. We eventually decided to go to sleep, and I said a quick prayer that the storm wouldn’t blow our way.

The person who snores always falls asleep first. This is the rule. And it was in full effect that day. My dad fell asleep rather quickly, leaving me to contend with his occasional bouts of sawing zz’s. Fortunately, with a harsh “SHHHH!” from me or a clearing of the throat, Dad usually stops for a while. Then it’s a race for me to fall asleep before he starts up again.

Around 2 AM, we both decided that we needed our sleeping pads. Originally we thought the sand would be comfortable enough for us to not put down our pads. This was a terrible, terrible misconception. As soon as I burrowed down enough for my arms to be comfortable, I noted that all the sand was now poking my stomach. My hip flexors were burning from trying to lay on my side. At virtually the same time, Dad and I got fed up with trying. We blew up our sleep mats, and had a much better rest of the night.

With the dawn came another breeze and more sand. I pulled my scarf over my head, and slept relatively well.


 6 AM meant just enough light that we couldn’t sleep anymore. We took some pictures of the morning and our site, and then packed up. It went much smoother than getting unpacked. Then we headed back.

Ugh, gross. Morning picture. Note the TP.

Getting ready for the day!

Eventually Dad just ripped the rest of his pants right off.

We had a neighbor!

Sunrise!

I love the shadows!

This place is amazing!

Daddy! :)

I think some of these ripples look like people.

The dunes are far from dead. Hundreds of tracks, new since the evening before, littered the sand, from bug to mouse to even (we think) bear tracks! I was really excited about trying to identify what each track belonged to, which slowed down part of our hike considerably. We were exhausted from our hike the day before and from our abbreviated sleep. Each hill promised to be the last. Each hill was not. Our hearts felt sad at that point. Finally we reached that final hill and saw the most beautiful view: the car!

Are these bear tracks???

These weird little tracks were everywhere!

What are you? WHAT ARE YOU???

Dad

Trees

Camping on the dunes was amazing! It’s been far too long since I have seen a sky like that. I was honored to share that experience with one of my favorite people in the world, my dad! Thanks for the adventure, Dad! I love you!

Deer!