From Mesa Verde

Day 7: Slept terribly. Forecast called for a low of 45, so I got in my 30 degree mummy bag, but was too warm for much of the night, then a little chilly at the end. 

Finally gave in around 5, and started getting ready. Felt like packing up went smoother today, so hopefully that continues.

As I was driving away from the campground I saw a couple Elk grazing and slowed down to admire them and take a picture. As I was pulling away I noticed a couple other animals and slowed down again to see them. And they were young moose! I was so excited to see my favorite animal for the first time! 

Only a 4.5 hour drive today, which felt pretty light compared to some of the other drives I’ve made so far. Drove through Leadville (sight of the famous Leadville 100 Ultramarathon), which was pretty cool after hearing about the race for so many years.

Made it to Mosca (just outside of Great Sand Dunes National Park) with the intent of renting a sand board from a local outfit, but the shop was closed, and I had no back up. However, I lucked out as there was another rental place just outside the park. I pulled a U-turn and equipped myself for an afternoon of sledding. 

The dunes themselves are an impressive sight and can be seen for miles on the way into the park. Fortunately, the park is small and the dunes access was only a few minutes past the entrance gate. 

I put on some sun screen, loaded up the camelback, grabbed the sled, and joined the other visitors on the hike out to the dunes.

I got in a handful of rides on one dune, but then headed over to one further back. Here I made friends with Brock who is starting med school in the fall and his girlfriend. They are on their own road trip, and going to some of the same places I am over the next week. We exchanged contacts to try to meet up later then continued sledding. Brock had rented a sand board, and I tried riding down with limited success (read: I fell every time).

I spent a lot of time marveling at the dunes. They may not be near as tall as the mountains behind them but they are unique and their existence in Colorado of all places boggles my mind.

After plenty of rides, and falls we decided to call it a day and promised to keep in touch. I returned the rented sled, and got to camp around 4:30. Wind steered picking up shortly after I arrived, which was great because it chased the bugs away. Ate an early dinner, so I could at least try to fall asleep and catch up on some much needed z’s.

Day 7.5: Did I mention it was windy? Shortly after falling asleep I looked up and could see the night sky. How beautiful. Wait. Why can I see the sky? Where is my rain fly? Fully awake at this point I hopped out of the tent and saw the rain fly was hanging onto one remaining hook. I reattached it as best I could in the wind (guessing it was around 30+ mph), and got back in my tent.

Day 8: The wind had faded by the time I got up, but it was still pretty chilly, so I stayed in my tent a little longer than I had planned before heading over to the sand dunes for a morning hike. 

The interwebs had recommended starting early to avoid the heat, but I had the heat and seat warmer turned on for the drive over, and was quite chilly as I started.

Fortunately, the sun had crested the mountains and the temps were on the rise. I hiked up to the High Dune with my feet sinking into the sand with every step. It was a slow walk, but one that I could not experience anywhere else outside of Arabia (I kept looking for a lamp, but Aladdin must have beat me to it). 

On the way up I mostly followed in the footsteps of others, but on the way at back down ventured over to some dunes that had not been touched that day. At a couple points, I lined myself up to run down the dune, letting gravity carry me down faster and faster. I glanced at my watch and could see I was descending at about a 4 minute mile pace. 

Per the recommendation of a family I met on the dunes, I headed over to Zapata Falls after leaving the park and it did not disappoint!

The trek was short and culminated with hopping from one partially submerged rock to another to avoid getting my feet wet (I had not been warned to wear waterproof shoes). The waterfall itself was spectacular. 

Before hitting the road I prepared a peanut butter sandwich that was so runny I had to eat it outside the car to avoid spilling it on myself. Adding to the humiliation was the offer of baby wipes by a couple girls who did not look old enough to drive the car they were in. Like any good man I refused the help of a woman and finished my sandwich.

Another short 4 hour drive today. Got to talk to my brother and roommate which was pretty fun (if anyone needs an excuse to take a break from work, let me know and we can hop on the phone next time I’m in the car). 

A sinus cold has been building the past couple days so I grabbed some NyQuil and will hopefully get some good sleep tonight, although the temperatures are supposed to drop by about 35 degrees over night, so I may be up to switch sleeping bags.