Sure, it’s inconvenient and costs money but it solves one big problem it cuts the riffraff at parks in half. It was here that I fully came to understand the value of paying entry fees.
Our boots and socks full of sand, we slowly headed back to the Renegade and drove to Alamosa and had lunch at one of the many Mexican restaurant in that area before heading out to Colorado Springs and our last venture, Garden of the Gods. The sand dipped and curved into the San Luis valley, and we watched the sun rise over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains surrounding the dunes.
Sweaty and exhausted we looked out at the scene unfolding below us, the cold wind whipping the hair into our faces and stared in amazement how far we had come from the car, how far away the parking lot was from the top of this incredible view. The sun started rising taller and taller and slowly, slowly, S and I made it to the very top. Literally, they were materializing behind each other. The guys, leaps and bounds ahead of us, became tiny little ants crawling up a hill and we stopped and sat on the top of the 10th dune we thought was the last it seemed like every time we climbed to the top of one dune, another grew. The dunes began to incline, and slowly, our legs became shaky, tense. We started fast and full of energy, practically galloping the straight, sandy land that lead towards the dunes until we decided to slow it down and conserve energy. Yes, I’m a terrible person but you’ll be happy to know I soon found age had nothing to do with how well you climbed!(I was the worst.) The night before at the canyon, talking to the group that gathered there, the teacher mentioned how hard it had been climbing the dunes, how she stopped mid way and I decided that it was because she was old. The morning was brisk and the sky dimly lit and we drove the straight, flat road towards The Great Sand Dunes National Park for a morning trek we thought would be an easy climb. Actually, there are none but there’s a first time for everything.
There are very few times in my life where I decided getting up early to walk up sand dunes was a good idea.