September 10, 2008

September 10, 2008

We got up early this morning to hike up onto the dune field of Great Sand Dune National Park. It rained some last night and that should make the climb easier. Climbing wet sand is much easier than dry. Plus I want to get up there early before other hikers make tracks on the smooth sand. After a lot of work we make it up to the top of one of the peaks. It is far from the highest. Getting to the tallest peaks would mean going downhill and uphill again and we are not ready for that much exercise. Plus we are freezing. We should have dressed warmer. It is chilly, and the fierce wind at the top is numbing. On the trip down it starts spitting rain and right after we get back in the RV it starts to pour.

We are determined to find warm dry weather! So we keep journeying west. The rumor of a drought in the West so far is baloney. We cross to the west side of this wide agricultural San Luis valley and head up into the mountains. We join up with the Rio Grande River and climb the South Fork through a beautiful canyon. We summit the high Wolf Creek Pass and descend down the San Juan River canyon. We have lunch at a scenic overlook, take a short walk to Treasure Falls, and stop for a photo of Chimney Rock National Monument. We continue west past Pagosa Springs and Durango and spend the evening at an RV park outside Mesa Verde National Park.