8/20 - 21/18 Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

After leaving Bent's Fort, I drove west to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. I stopped at a Subway for lunch and was surprised to find sandwiches on the menu that are not available in Champaign-Urbana. Sandwiches like guacamole and steak, and southwestern-style chicken with cilantro. I watched this sunset over the dunes from the road near the campground in the national park.

Another view of the sunset. I imagine the ash and smoke from the fires out west were the reason this sunset was so spectacular.

Early the next morning, just as the sun was rising, I started hiking up the 800 foot dunes. It had been cool the night before, around 50 degrees, and I wanted to get an early start before the heat of the sun made hiking the dunes unbearably hot. 

There is usually water in the stream bed, but because of the drought this year, there hasn't been water in the stream bed since early summer. 

I could see the top of the dunes, but they were so steep that I crawled on my hands and knees to reach the top!

The view from the top of the first set of dunes. You can see the they go on for quite a distance.

The wind is constantly blowing the sand and changing the shape of the dunes.

Another view from the top. The green you see in the dune field is grass. It helps stabilize the sand.

You can see small ripples in the sand and my tracks next to them at the top of the dunes. Going down was much more fun than going up! The dunes were so steep that I slid down on my butt almost all the way to the bottom!

A lonely tuft of dune grass.