On the way to the Great Sand Dunes, I wanted to make a pitstop at Pagosa Springs to cut the drive into two days. I am forever grateful I made that stop. For anyone who has not gone into this magical place, the woods here are otherworldly. Since being on the road I do appreciate and love where I am from and my roots. The redwood and Eucalyptus trees that surrounded me are beautiful. I am also appreciating the variety in the terrains I am encountering. Although the trees surrounding me in Pagosa Springs weren’t towering over me like the Redwoodf Forest, it still took my breathe away just in a different type of magical way.
Pagosa Springs was my second match with mud, and Tommy and the Tank did a slithery ride to our campsite. It is still fun seeing just all the things Tommy and I can do. When I settled in for the night I was slightly nervous with how much water was around from the recent rain. It was just a pit stop though, so one night would be fine. I had recently been frustrated with myself and how much I had been using my phone and relying on communication. It was perfect timing for having these thoughts on the drive to camp because when I settled in and reached for my phone, I had no service and chuckled to myself. It was a nice night spent in solitude. Feet in the mud type of good!
The next day it was time to head out to the RV park I reserved so I could get the weekly routine done laundry, shower, groceries, and work. I do get slightly bummed how often I am staying in these camp sites, but I really don’t want to use wifi from a Nazi. I started to research some options of wifi hotspots so I can at least be slightly in solitude even though I wouldn’t be “off grid”. As I was having these contemplations in my head, I started to notice how wet it was around my truck tires from rain that happened over night. I was starting to get a little nervous for if I would make to out of the mud with the trailer, since the way in was already a little sketchy. I knew though coming in, Tommy wasn’t even close to his max so deep down I knew we would be good. We were able to get out first try and it was so fucking fun. If Dobby wasn’t sitting as my passenger and my home wasn’t attached to the truck I would’ve gone for a wild drive. We made it to camp at Base Camp in Alamosa just a little ways from Great Sand Dunes. It was a beautiful view of the snow capped mountains surrounding me for the night.
After the night of cozy amenities, Dobby and I took off just down the road to a dispersed spot pretty close to the baee of Mt. Blanca. I think that has been my favorite view from my window so far on this trip. As I was putting together the fire pit, I thought I had cut my toe on a rock from the instant burn that happened and the red dot that appeared when I looked down. Oh no, this is just a red ant biting the fuck out of my toe right now. After pulling the little fucker off I was walking around in pain trying to remember the purpose for ants in this ecosystem. I got to camp pretty early in the day so was hoping I could rent a sand board and check out the small dunes in the park. Unfortunately I noticed some rain was coming in. I decided to just relax, embrace the views for the day and a book.
For my day in the national park, I wanted to hike the High Dune, which is one of the tallest dunes in the park but is not the highest. I was excited to see what the dunes actually looked like and was shocked at how much sand could be here since I was surrounded by so many rocky mountains. As I was getting closer to the park, I could see the sand slowly rise up. It is quite a site. The hike itself was tough but rewarding and fun. When I got to the top of High Dune, I could see the tallest dune in the park, Star Dune, and I needed to just keep going to get to the top of that. I ate my sandwich filled with sand at the top of the highest dune in the country. That was dope. I loved the park and and camp, but it was time to part ways for now.
Our next stop for National Parks will be the Indiana Sand Dunes, but maybe we’ll make a few pit stops on the way…
DropBox Link for Great Sand Dunes: Great Sand Dunes NP
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