Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

June 5 - June 8 2015

Can there be  a better playground for a kid than a giant sand box?!?!  We were so excited to go back to the Great Sand Dune National Park and even more excited to spend it with cousins and Shawn and Stephanie.  The crazy day begin a little more than unusual.  We have decided to take a break from RZRing.  Kevin has grown a bit weary of towing it around and with all the rain this summer so far, most of the trails have been damaged or are still closed.  We decided that now is the time to sell it and then come back to the sport in a year or two.  Well, the day of the trip  Jadeyn and I met them in the morning out in Boulder to make the transaction happen.  We felt good about who it was going to: a nice family who would love it and take care of it.  But it did make the morning a little crazy getting prepared for the weekend trip.  

When Kevin, Jadeyn and I got up there Thursday afternoon, we were shocked to find that both campgrounds were completely filled.  Oh no!!!  We frantically found a private campground what still had availability.  With all our running around, it ended up that Shawn and Steph arrived about 20 min after us!  Sweet.  Great spot with tons of room for the kids to romp and explore...and explore they did!!

Our first day on the dunes was a perfect one.  Warm breeze, bright skies.  With all the rain, the river flowing through the dunes was really wide and fast, and cold!  The water comes through in surged; its pretty cool.  A nice even layer or water over the sand and then suddenly a wave will come down that is extra cold.  Apparently, it is caused by little ripples of sand that create a dam across the sand holding back the water.  When the dams break, a large rush of water is released.  It is one of the few places in the world where this can be seen.  Very cool.    But because of the high water, the 4x4 road with all the water crossings was closed, so we only got to do that road partway.  It's a really fun road of sand where you have to gun the engine to keep from getting stuck and then hold up your vehicles skirts to cross the water!  The section we did was fun, but not was fun as the whole road would have been.

Off to the dunes.  Crossing the cold river was invigorating and we all did a bit of running until we were sufficiently numbed to it.  Then on to the hot sand.  The kids were off with boundless energy up and down the rolling dunes while we adults tried to keep up.  We raced down the slopes and enjoyed watching the kids roll down and explore.  So much fun.  Mid afternoon brought wind, so we headed back to camp for lunch and games.  It seemed like each day was like that: a nice morning and then thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.  It was fun to be able to come back to camp for games, food and laughs.  We played Kub, horse shoes, Apples to Apples and then the highlight: Telestrations.  That game is so much fun and I know we could be heard laughing from several campsites over!

On one of the days we did a short hike up to a waterfall, but as it turned out, we couldn't see the actual falls from the trail.  We had to cross the creek and then hike partway up the water to be able to see it.  And, well, out of seven of us, only Kevin made it all the way.  If we thought the dunes water was cold, it was nothing compared to the frigid snowmelt water of this creek!  Wow! Instantly bone chilling so badly it hurt instantly!  We all made it across and I know we could have gone further, but the water was really fast and actually pretty deep in placed.  Me and Steph and the kids turned back while the boys pressed on.  At the head of the narrow canyon, you'd have to hike in knee deep water to a bend in the rock, wade past that to get to the falls.  Shawn returned to us and Kevin dissappeared around the bend.  He was out of sight for about 8 minutes and I actually got worried.  As it turned out, there was a rock he could stand on while he took pictures of the falls, so he wasn't dying thank goodness.  But when both boys made it back they both agreed that anyone who does a polar plunge is insane!

On Saturday, we discovered that the park was celebrating National Junior Ranger Day!  No way!  All three kids jumped on the opportunity to participate in the activities and earn their badges.  It was much more involved than the regular certificate.  It was 9 activities including walking a mile measured by a pedometer, a bucket brigade, building sand castles, nature walks etc.  They each earned a t-shirt, frisbee and a badge!

Overall the weekend was a blast.  Campfires and smores, walks through the campground, exploring and storytelling and really good food! And the stars were amazing!  So much fun!