1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html
class="detail single" dir="ltr" lang="en-US">
<head>
<title>Great Sand Dunes National Park - by Scott Gilbertson</title>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<meta name="description"
content="Wandering the namesake dunes at Great Sands Dunes National Park. By Scott Gilbertson">
<meta name="author" content="Scott Gilbertson">
<link rel="alternate"
type="application/rss+xml"
title="Luxagraf RSS feed"
href="https://luxagraf.net/rss/">
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="/media/screenv9.css"
media="screen">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/print.css" media="print" title="print" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json" />
<link rel="dns-prefetch" href="https://stats.luxagraf.net">
<link rel="canonical" href="https://luxagraf.net/jrnl/2010/07/great-sand-dunes-national-park" />
<meta name="ICBM" content="37.72673718028319, -105.55097578487117" />
<meta name="geo.position" content="37.72673718028319; -105.55097578487117" />
<meta name="geo.placename" content="Great Sand Dunes National Park, ">
<meta name="geo.region" content="-">
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Great Sand Dunes National Park" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://luxagraf.net/jrnl/2010/07/great-sand-dunes-national-park" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Wandering the namesake dunes at Great Sands Dunes National Park. By Scott Gilbertson" />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2010-07-17T09:00:00" />
<meta property="article:author" content="Scott Gilbertson" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Luxagraf" />
<meta property="og:image" content="/media/images/post-images/2010/greatsanddunesh_4.jpg" />
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/>
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Wandering the namesake dunes at Great Sands Dunes National Park. By Scott Gilbertson"/>
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Great Sand Dunes National Park"/>
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@luxagraf"/>
<meta name="twitter:domain" content="luxagraf"/>
<meta name="twitter:image:src" content="/media/images/post-images/2010/greatsanddunesh_4.jpg"/>
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@luxagraf"/>
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://luxagraf.net/jrnl/2010/07/great-sand-dunes-national-park"
},
"headline": "Great Sand Dunes National Park",
"datePublished": "2010-07-17T09:00:00+04:00",
"dateModified": "2010-07-17T09:00:00+04:00",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Scott Gilbertson"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Luxagraf",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://luxagraf.net/media/img/logo-white.jpg"
}
},
"description": "Wandering the namesake dunes at Great Sands Dunes National Park. By Scott Gilbertson"
}
</script>
</head>
<body >
<div class="wrapper" id="wrapper">
<div class="header-wrapper">
<header class="site-banner">
<div id="logo">
<a href="/" title="Home">Luxagraf</a>
<span class="sitesubtitle">Walk Slowly</span>
</div>
<nav>
<ul>
<li><a href="/jrnl/" title="Stories of life on the road.">Jrnl</a> & <a href="/field-notes/" title="Short stories, snapshots of daily life on the road.">Field Notes</a></li>
<li><a href="/guide/" title="Advice, Tools, Tips and Tricks for Full Time Van or RV Life.">Guides</a></li>
<li><a href="/newsletter/" title="The 'friends of a long year' newsletter">newsletter</a></li>
<li><a href="/about" title="About Scott">About</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
</header>
</div>
<ol class="bl" id="breadcrumbs" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/BreadcrumbList">
<li itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ListItem"><a itemprop="item" href="/"><span itemprop="name">Home</span></a> →
<meta itemprop="position" content="1" />
</li>
<li itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ListItem">
<a href="/jrnl/" itemprop="item"><span itemprop="name">jrnl</span></a>
<meta itemprop="position" content="2" />
<meta itemprop="position" content="2" />
</li>
</ol>
<main>
<article class="h-entry hentry entry-content content" itemscope itemType="http://schema.org/BlogPosting">
<header id="header" class="post-header ">
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post-title" itemprop="headline">Great Sand Dunes National Park</h1>
<div class="post-linewrapper">
<div class="p-location h-adr adr post-location" itemprop="contentLocation" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Place">
<h3 class="h-adr" itemprop="address" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/PostalAddress"><span class="p-locality locality" itemprop="addressLocality">Great Sand Dunes National Park</span>, <a class="p-region region" href="/jrnl/united-states/" title="travel writing from the United States">Colorado</a>, <span class="p-country-name" itemprop="addressCountry">U.S.</span></h3>
– <a href="" onclick="showMap(37.72673718028319, -105.55097578487117, { type:'point', lat:'37.72673718028319', lon:'-105.55097578487117'}); return false;" title="see a map">Map</a>
</div>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post-date" datetime="2010-07-17T09:00:00" itemprop="datePublished">July <span>17, 2010</span></time>
<span class="hide" itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">by <a class="p-author h-card" href="/about"><span itemprop="name">Scott Gilbertson</span></a></span>
</div>
</header>
<div id="article" class="e-content entry-content post--body post--body--single" itemprop="articleBody">
<p><span class="drop">T</span>he sun is threatening to peak over the ridge before I even get to the top of the first row of dunes. I give up on making the top and sit down to watch the first rays of light slowly crest over the peaks of the Sangre de Christo Mountains and fall on the cool sand beneath my feet.</p>
<p><img alt="Mountains and Clouds Behind the Great Sand Dunes, Great Sand Dunes National Park" class="picfull" src="https://images.luxagraf.net//2010/greatsanddunesclouds.jpg"/></p>
<p>It doesn’t take long for the sun to get rid of the morning chill. In half an hour’s time the sand will be warm on my bare feet and by the time I make it all the way back to the truck it’s too hot to hike barefoot anymore.</p>
<p>But just as the sun comes up, most of us on the dunes, and there aren’t many, are still wearing fleece jackets and wrapping our arms around our legs for warmth. I consider heading back after the sun is up, but that highest ridge of dunes is taunting me, some five hundred vertical feet of sand — and no telling what lies beyond it, just another, higher ridge? — that eventually gets the best of me.</p>
<p><break></p>
<p>I climb it.</p>
<p>Looking back where I came from is impressive, people look like ants scurrying over the dunes. </p>
<p><img alt="Dunes ridgeline, Great Sand Dunes National Park" class="postpic" src="https://images.luxagraf.net//2010/greatsanddunesridge.jpg"/>The dunes themselves are also different up here, the sand is looser, your feet sink deeper and the patterns in the sand, the ridges and ripples shaped by the wind and avalanches are completely different here than they were down below. There are no signs of grass or any other plants up on the top of the larger dunes, just a few track marks from beetles and other creatures that somehow eek out an existence here. </p>
<p>The view over the ridge is not what I had hoped for. Instead of a vast vista of sand dunes there is simply another higher ridge of dunes — maybe two hundred feet up from the summit I’ve already reached. I sit down and enjoy the view, panting, trying to catch my breath. I’m tired, my legs are burning. Climbing in sand is not like hiking through the mountains. For every step you take up, you sink back half the distance, sometimes all of it.</p>
<p>I rest too long. My legs seem capable of only one direction — down. I can see the truck from here and even if I head down now I will have nearly an hour of walking before I get back.</p>
<p>I give up.</p>
<p>I’m tired and I’ve hiked through enough mountains in my life to know that there is always another ridge beyond the one you’re on. There is only one true exception to this rule — Mount Everest. As you approach the final ridge of Everest you can have the distinct and completely assured satisfaction of knowing that there is no ridge beyond it. Actually there are other exceptions as well, but they are few and far between. Usually ridges lead to more ridges.</p>
<p><img alt="Dunes, Great Sand Dunes National Park" class="postpicright" src="https://images.luxagraf.net//2010/greatsandduneshighpoint.jpg"/>However, if you were the sort of person that reads signs, you would know that that slightly higher ridge I stared at before giving up on the idea of climbing is in fact the highest ridge on the dunes. </p>
<p>If you’re more like me you wouldn’t read the sign until after your hike, when you’re back in the parking lot again.</p>
<p>Yes, it turns out there is no ridge beyond the one I saw, just thirty miles of endless — lower — dunes. It’s quiet a view I am told. I wouldn’t know.</p>
<p>Some times you win. Some times the mountain wins. </p>
<p>For minute I consider going back up, but my legs already feel like small fires have been lit inside each of my calves and I’ve got miles to go before I sleep.</p>
<p>[Note: this story is park of my quest to visit every National Park in the U.S. You can check out the rest on the <a href="http://luxagraf.net/projects/national-parks/" title="National Parks Project">National Parks Project</a> page.]</p>
</div>
</article>
<div class="nav-wrapper">
<nav id="page-navigation" class="page-border-top">
<ul>
<li id="prev"><span class="bl">Previous:</span>
<a href="/jrnl/2010/07/comanche-national-grasslands" rel="prev" title=" Comanche National Grasslands">Comanche National Grasslands</a>
</li>
<li id="next"><span class="bl">Next:</span>
<a href="/jrnl/2010/07/backpacking-grand-tetons" rel="next" title=" Backpacking in the Grand Tetons">Backpacking in the Grand Tetons</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>
</div>
<div class="comment--form--wrapper ">
<div class="comment--form--header">
<p class="hed">Thoughts?</p>
<p class="subhed">Please leave a reply:</p>
</div>
<form action="/comments/post/" method="post" class="comment--form">
<input type="hidden" name="rder" value="" />
<input type="hidden" name="content_type" value="jrnl.entry" id="id_content_type">
<input type="hidden" name="object_pk" value="110" id="id_object_pk">
<input type="hidden" name="timestamp" value="1596833464" id="id_timestamp">
<input type="hidden" name="security_hash" value="87f77fee005ed845a03e11a9de16565208c539e1" id="id_security_hash">
<fieldset >
<label for="id_name">Name:</label>
<input type="text" name="name" maxlength="50" required id="id_name">
</fieldset>
<fieldset >
<label for="id_email">Email address:</label>
<input type="email" name="email" required id="id_email">
</fieldset>
<fieldset >
<label for="id_url">URL:</label>
<input type="url" name="url" id="id_url">
</fieldset>
<fieldset >
<label for="id_comment">Comment:</label>
<div class="textarea-rounded"><textarea name="comment" cols="40" rows="10" maxlength="3000" required id="id_comment">
</textarea></div>
</fieldset>
<fieldset style="display:none;">
<label for="id_honeypot">If you enter anything in this field your comment will be treated as spam:</label>
<input type="text" name="honeypot" id="id_honeypot">
</fieldset>
<div class="submit">
<input type="submit" name="post" class="submit-post btn" value="Post" />
<input type="submit" name="preview" class="submit-preview btn" value="Preview" />
</div>
</form>
<p style="font-size: 95%;"><strong>All comments are moderated</strong>, so you won’t see it right away. And please remember Kurt Vonnegut's rule: “god damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” You can use Markdown or HTML to format your comments. The allowed tags are <code><b>, <i>, <em>, <strong>, <a></code>. To create a new paragraph hit return twice. </p>
</div>
</main>
<footer class="bl">
<ul class="footer-nav">
<li><a href="/blogroll" title="Sites that inspire us">Blogroll</a></li>
<li><a href="/contact/" title="contact luxagraf">Contact</a></li>
<li>Follow Along:
<ul>
<li><a href="/jrnl/feed.xml" title="RSS feed">RSS</a></li>
<li><a href="/newsletter/" title="Luxagraf Email Updates">Email</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/luxagraf" rel="me" title="luxagraf on Instagram">Instagram</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div class="support">Support luxagraf:
<div class="donate-btn">
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">
<input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="HYJFZQSBGJ8QQ">
<input type="submit" name="submit" title="Donate to luxagraf via PayPal">
</form>
</div>
<div class="donate-btn">
<a class="liberapay-btn" href="https://liberapay.com/luxagraf/donate"><span>Donate</span></a>
</div>
</div>
<p id="license">
© 2003-2020
<span class="h-card"><a class="p-name u-url" href="https://luxagraf.net/">Scott Gilbertson</a><data class="p-nickname" value="luxagraf"></data><data class="p-locality" value="Athens"></data><data class="p-region" value="Georgia"></data><data class="p-country-name" value="United States"></data></span>.
</p>
</footer>
</div>
<script>
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {
var leaflet = document.createElement('script');
leaflet.src = "/media/js/leaflet-master/leaflet-mod.js";
document.body.appendChild(leaflet);
var lightbox = document.createElement('script');
lightbox.src = "/media/js/lightbox.js";
document.body.appendChild(lightbox);
leaflet.onload = function(){
var detail = document.createElement('script');
detail.src = "/media/js/detail.min.js";
document.body.appendChild(detail);
detail.onload = function(){
createMap();
var open = false;
}
}
lightbox.onload = function() {
var opts= {
//nextOnClick: false,
captions: true,
onload: function(){
var im = document.getElementById("jslghtbx-contentwrapper");
var link = im.appendChild(document.createElement('a'))
link.href = im.firstChild.src;
link.innerHTML= "open ";
link.target = "_blank";
link.setAttribute('class', 'p-link');
im.appendChild(link);
}
};
var lightbox = new Lightbox();
lightbox.load(opts);
}
});
</script>
<script>
<!--
// Register our service-worker
//if (navigator.serviceWorker) {
// window.addEventListener('load', function() {
// if (navigator.serviceWorker.controller) {
// navigator.serviceWorker.controller.postMessage({'command': 'trimCaches'});
// } else {
// navigator.serviceWorker.register('/serviceworker.js', {
// scope: '/'
// });
// }
// });
//}
//-->
<!-- Piwik -->
var _paq = _paq || [];
_paq.push(["disableCookies"]);
_paq.push(['trackPageView']);
_paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']);
(function() {
var u="https://stats.luxagraf.net/";
_paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', u+'piwik.php']);
_paq.push(['setSiteId', 1]);
var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'piwik.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s);
})();
<!-- End Piwik Code -->
</script>
<noscript><p><img src="//stats.luxagraf.net/piwik.php?idsite=1" style="border:0;" alt="" /></p></noscript>
</body>
</html>
|
