Hi Again:
Well today was the day that we did it. We climbed to the top of the Dunes. Honestly, at 8,000 feet the long walk through the sand flats to get to the Dune's base was harder then actually climbing the Dunes. At the base of the dunes is Medano Creek. This time of year it is just a wide shallow trickle that we were able to cross without getting wet. We had to jump over some shallow runoffs. Yes, we could have taken off our shoes and wadded through it but that would have been to easy.
MEDANO CREEK WHEN SHALLOW
Once we were up on the dunes there was a nice cool breeze. Although the sand was too hot to be barefoot.The sand was very fine and multi-colored, red, black and light sand color. Surprisingly once up there if we stayed on the dune ridges it was pretty stable. We were told the loose surface sand blows off the ridges and what is left is hard packed and relatively easy to walk on. The view was great and we could see our campsite with our white RV. The terrain up there was high ridges with some deep pot hole valleys which small amounts of green vegetation was actually growing. We saw a storm approaching in the distance and came down off the Dune. The Rangers had told us to be careful of the lightning.
Once back down fro our dune climb while walking in the park we met a family with a pop up trailer that looked like it was the child of a Hummer. It was very high, bright yellow with big knobby tires, truly a real backwoods camper. We stood and chatted for a while and and was offered a yellow squash from their garden back home. We soon learned it was their son’s birthday and was invited over after dinner to share birthday desert at their campfire. Later that evening it began to rain very hard. We thought the night was a bust but soon there was a knock at our door. There they were all wet from the rain. We invited then in, they had brought a piece of blueberry Birthday Pie to us. What a surprise and what a delicious blueberry pie, berries the size of marbles. The best part, it was cooked over their campfire.
Blueberry Birthday Pie Hot Off The Camp Fire
The heavy storm never materialized, the rain stopped. It did cool off significantly, at this elevation it has never gone above the 80’s in the day with low humidity and in the 50’s at night. We are still meeting very interesting people. We met a man who has been traveling around the USA on his motorcycle for a year now and plans to continue for another year. We saw him pull in and set up camp. Later we invited him over to our campfire. He is definitely a free spirit at 50 years of age. He has only had seasonal jobs and has lived from Alaska working on crab boats to the Caribbean living on his own boat. His adventures provide great entertainment as we sat around our campfire. . His appearance does not lead one to identify his life style. He is clean cut, shaved and well dress in all the right camp gear along with the appearance of an educated businessman. Very interesting to talk to.
Till tomorrow, Carol Hoff and Chriss Horstman
Well today was the day that we did it. We climbed to the top of the Dunes. Honestly, at 8,000 feet the long walk through the sand flats to get to the Dune's base was harder then actually climbing the Dunes. At the base of the dunes is Medano Creek. This time of year it is just a wide shallow trickle that we were able to cross without getting wet. We had to jump over some shallow runoffs. Yes, we could have taken off our shoes and wadded through it but that would have been to easy.
MEDANO CREEK WHEN SHALLOWOnce we were up on the dunes there was a nice cool breeze. Although the sand was too hot to be barefoot.The sand was very fine and multi-colored, red, black and light sand color. Surprisingly once up there if we stayed on the dune ridges it was pretty stable. We were told the loose surface sand blows off the ridges and what is left is hard packed and relatively easy to walk on. The view was great and we could see our campsite with our white RV. The terrain up there was high ridges with some deep pot hole valleys which small amounts of green vegetation was actually growing. We saw a storm approaching in the distance and came down off the Dune. The Rangers had told us to be careful of the lightning.
Once back down fro our dune climb while walking in the park we met a family with a pop up trailer that looked like it was the child of a Hummer. It was very high, bright yellow with big knobby tires, truly a real backwoods camper. We stood and chatted for a while and and was offered a yellow squash from their garden back home. We soon learned it was their son’s birthday and was invited over after dinner to share birthday desert at their campfire. Later that evening it began to rain very hard. We thought the night was a bust but soon there was a knock at our door. There they were all wet from the rain. We invited then in, they had brought a piece of blueberry Birthday Pie to us. What a surprise and what a delicious blueberry pie, berries the size of marbles. The best part, it was cooked over their campfire.
Blueberry Birthday Pie Hot Off The Camp FireThe heavy storm never materialized, the rain stopped. It did cool off significantly, at this elevation it has never gone above the 80’s in the day with low humidity and in the 50’s at night. We are still meeting very interesting people. We met a man who has been traveling around the USA on his motorcycle for a year now and plans to continue for another year. We saw him pull in and set up camp. Later we invited him over to our campfire. He is definitely a free spirit at 50 years of age. He has only had seasonal jobs and has lived from Alaska working on crab boats to the Caribbean living on his own boat. His adventures provide great entertainment as we sat around our campfire. . His appearance does not lead one to identify his life style. He is clean cut, shaved and well dress in all the right camp gear along with the appearance of an educated businessman. Very interesting to talk to.
See Our Short Video Of The Great Sand Dune Avalanche.......
Till tomorrow, Carol Hoff and Chriss Horstman
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