After a night of constant rain I was worried that we’d wake up soaking wet but luckily the tent held out and we slept surprisingly well. Once we fully woke up we decided to gather our things and head to the dune field before anyone else. We arrived at the dune field parking lot around 7:00 and to our surprise were the first ones there. As we looked around the clouds were clinging to the surrounding mountains and the seasonal Medano Creek was flowing pretty well. The biggest challenge of the morning was by far crossing the icy mountain fed creek but we managed without getting soaked by jumping from sandbar to sandbar.

Passing the creek we had the dune field to ourselves and the heavy rains the night before made all the sand compact and damp. Which made hiking up to the top of the High Dune (~750ft Tall) all the much easier. The temperatures were probably hoovering around the low 40’s but as we climbed higher and got more of a work out it felt nicer. As we finally made it to the top the views were somewhat hampered by foggy/cloudy but overall was still spectacular. We spent a little bit of time on top and started to descend when we noticed another group of hikers nearing our position. Halfway down the Sun began to break through the clouds and create some amazing patterns.

When we arrived back at my Jeep we decided to stop at the Visitor center for some souvenirs and such. Afterwards we hit the open road and didn’t stop until we grabbed lunch in the picturesque town of La Veta. Done filling up our stomachs we continued North and drove straight back to Broomfield. Overall it was an amazing trip! But as much as I want to say it was due to the dunes, I know the trip was amazing because I had my wonderful girlfriend to share it with 🙂

2-day/1-night trip total: 526.6 miles & 8:30:00 hrs of driving