Canceled July 30, 2012
Billions of grains of sand eroded from mountains combined with powerful winds helped create Great Sand Dunes National Park. This 330 square mile huge sand dune is the tallest in North America. We parked our car at the Point of No Return. The creek along the base of the dunefield was mostly dried up and we hiked the black mucky path.
When we reached Castle Creek, there was an particularly steep sand dune. We thought it would be a great idea to run up the dune. As Alisa waited at the base, Bill, Luke and Winston began to climb. This became the most exhausting undertaking ever! The combination of hot sand, altitude and gradient was more than we imagined.
After making it to the top, we caught our breath and snickered about our adventure. We ran down the dune and one minute later Luke became sick on his stomach and vomited. We treated the issue and slowly walked back to the car. Afterward, we hiked the Dunes Overlook Trail.
Another great idea was Bill driving on the Medano Pass Primitive Road. This road was actually soft sand. The idea was to save time since we were wanted to drive north toward the Rockies. However, after nervously trying to accomplish this task, a river in the road prevented us from completing the last. We turned around and were glad we did not try something irresponsible. It was Bill’s birthday and we did not want to get stuck in the wilderness.
We agree that, although it was short, the hike up High Dune was one of the most difficult things we’ve ever done. And we make it a point to do each park’s hardest hike.