Out West

Santa Fe--> Great Sand Dunes--> Durango, CO--> Mesa Verde

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

Yesterday I packed up my campsite in Santa Fe and proceeded to Great Sand Dunes Colorado. The road was washed out with eroded hills at first, then flat land with just shrubs. Later on a smooth, rounded mountain came into view and beyond that in the hazy distance were the Rockies. I traveled north on 285, took a right in Almarosa on 160-East for about 15 miles, and then a left towards the dunes. Laying out before a row of mountains were a blanket of gigantic sand dunes, placed there over time by high winds.

I arrived and got my gear together. Once I walked beyond a small barrier of juniper trees, a shallow stream flowed over the sand before the dunes. People were arriving and plopping down as if they were at the beach. I in contrast removed my hiking boots and continued through the stream and to a 1/4 mile stretch of flat sand before the hills began. I assume the flatness is the dry river bed. I plotted my path along the ridges of the dunes, leading up to the top.

The climb was tough on my lungs, and at times the wind would kick up, spraying sand across my exposed legs until I wondered if it would take a layer of my skin off. Still I proceeded onward, ever seeking the summit. It wasn't pretty to behold I am sure as I clammered on all fours to the sandy peaks, but I finally make it to the top. Being by myself, I felt no self-conciousness in belting out a hearty "WOOOOO" at the top of a peak to the dunes laying out before me. The descent was cake, as I simply ran down the many hills. To the left and right were valleys that one would have to climb out of again should they descend into one, so I avoided those.

On my drive from the dunes to Durango I went through Wolf Creek pass and saw the most beautiful cliff and valley that I have ever beheld. I began to laugh uncontrollably from the view until tears came to my eyes. It seems all to varying that this world can contain beauty such as this, and also for example the concrete prison that I've seen in the Bronx.

Sometimes I worry that there won't be enough to fill my day with as I go along on my journey. No trouble so far, but still I feel uneasy about it. I've heard people say through my life, "Oh, there's never enough hours in the day!" I am not one of those people. My thoughts are that I will not find enough to do. Life is too long sometimes. I try to avoid thinking this way, but ideas such as these will sporadically seep into my consciousness at random.

Durango is a hip, outdoorsy town. I went to dinner at Steamworks Brewery and chatted with a health foods store owner. She had lived in the area for 17 years and I asked her how she found her sense of "home". She responded that places have either chewed her up and spit her out or chewed her up and swallowed her. I wasn't expecting that, so I will make it a point to interview more people on their sense of home.

Today I awoke, packed up again and drove west about an hour to Mesa Verde. I had visited this place along with the Great Sand Dunes in my childhood. At that time I was too afraid to tour the cliff dwellings with their ladders and crevices. Today however I revisited the site and took a tour that included a 32 foot ladder up into the dwelling. Not to say that it wasn't a little scary this time around, but I really felt the impact of how much braver I am now than I once was. I'm proud that I took the tour, but I didn't learn much more about the people that once lived there than I did on my first visit. $3.00 well spent anyhow.