Great Sand Dunes National Park

by Mike Whiteley

Photo Mike Whiteley

In late October thirteen of us enjoyed a very nice weekend in Great Sand Dunes National Park. The weather was lovely for camping and hiking with warm fall days and cool crisp nights.

After arriving at the Dunes in early afternoon we spent a little time at the visitors center looking at the displays of this unique landscape. We then moved to the campground to set up camp and start our hikes. The first hike was out to the Dunes Overlook a short 2 mile hike up a hill with a great view of the dunes. After returning to camp for a short rest we then headed out on the dunes to hike up to High Dune. A fairly short hike but very steep in spots, we took our time and arrived just after sunset. As we were close to the full moon we waited on top of the dunes but because of the surrounding mountains it took quite awhile for it to come up. We pasted the time on top with a reading from aldo Leopold about wolves from The Sand County Journal. Back in camp we had a late dinner of Caesar Salad, Panini and Minestrone around the camp fire.

The next morning we hiked out along the Sand Ramp Trail for a couple of miles, spent time playing on the dunes and returned along and through Medino Creek. After packing up we then headed back up to Boulder. All in all a great fall weekend with a great group of people.

Photo Nick Jancewicz

Photo Mike Whiteley

Photo Mike Whiteley

Photo Mike Whiteley

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