Great Sand Dunes

In Michigan, we had Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, with its 400-foot high mounds of fine sand overlooking Lake Michigan. In Colorado, we have Great Sand Dunes National Park, with its 750-foot high mounds of slightly coarser sand in a valley below the Sangre de Cristo mountains. We stopped at the park on our way home from Mesa Verde.

I can't even begin to understand how 19,000 acres of sand dunes ended up sandwiched between endless plains—an "Open Range" where the cattle wander unfenced—and a line of mountains. The only water in sight is an unimpressive creek. Words like "sand deposits," "Rio Grande and its tributaries," and "ephemeral lake" (a lovely phrase that I picked up at the visitor center) have something to do with it.

Going up the dunes was dreamlike: no matter how many mounds of sand you scrambled over while fighting strong winds and shifting sand below your feet, the top still seemed no closer. After failing to summit, I was left with a) a lot more appreciation for Lawrence of Arabia and b) the feeling that my face had just undergone a 100-percent natural microdermabrasion.

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