Check out this dork and his homemade cardboard “sled.” This is engineering at its worst, folks
Crossing the chilly surge-flow of Medano creek. This creek is a critical part of the system that created the dunes
High Dune lies ahead, a “Choose Your Own Adventure” type of hike
Fortunately the previous nights rain made the sand nice and firm, and easier to walk on
That's a lot of sand
Karen posing for an action shot
Karen chose a ridgeline on the left, while the right was more appealing to me
On the summit of High Dune
The views from the top started to give me some perspective on the shear magnitude of sand covering the surrounding 30 square miles
The tallest dune in the park is Star Dune, and our next objective for the day
Wow, this sled works great! (sigh)
Karen's attempt
This seems like a much better idea, plus you get a free base grind on the way down!
Clouds? What clouds?
Aside from a few steeper dunes, hiking on the sand was surprisingly easy and fun
4 other hikers following a northern ridgeline up Star Dune
The steepest bit came just below the top, which I measured with an inclinometer to be about 30 degrees
On the summit of the tallest sand dune in North America!
Focus problems, but we admired this view while eating lunch.
The sun finally started came out for a while as we started our descent
The wind picked up on the way back too demonstrating its dune building power and washing away our footprints
Karen on the top of what we hoped was Pt 8860, the only other ranked dune in the park
Descending in drier sand was fun and so easy on my knees
Heading back across the creek as the rain started to move in again
Karen's back-at-the-car victory dance
The token view of Mt Herard, Medano Creek, and the Sand Dunes taken from the visitor's center
A grand view of the Sand Dunes as the clouds cleared
Back at camp, tents up, fire started, raining again
Mark and Jim setting up a second tarp for our make-shift shelter between the cars
Angie and Michael staying dry
Funny, this guy is trying to warm up by the fire, yet he is wearing sandals while standing in the rain
Morning brought sunshine, while the Ubbens brought sausage, pancakes, eggs, and english muffins
Michael and Mark heading up South Zapata Creek toward the falls
Angie negotiates and slippery wall of rocks to stay out of the bone chilling water
On an ordinary summer day, this might be refreshing, but I'm pretty sure Mark's feet are just about completely numb
Wading through the creek is mandatory in order to see the hidden falls
An old miner's habitat on the trail up to South Zapata Lake
Fresh snow above treeline
Weather started moving in again, so we retreated, but the sun was really highlighting the snow up top
Name anyone?
We stopped back at the falls again on the way down since my camera had focus issues the first time
Here is the grotto you walk back into to get to the falls
The falls coming from the lower pool. Notice the big chunk of ice hanging on the rock above the falls
Supposedly this slot canyon is a favorite of local ice climbers in the winter
The upper falls
And the two falls together, about 30 feet worth altogether
The view back down the creek
A brief stop on the rock while I regained feeling below the ankle
A few departing pano's of the dunes as the sun started to set
The prize photo of the trip ended up being this shot of Little Bear Peak after a fresh dusting and storm clouds clearing on our drive home
A closer view of Little Bear Peak
One last shot of the Blanca Massif and Mt Lindsey from the shoulder of Hwy 160, just before the State Trooper walked up to see what we were doing
