When Everest was two months old we walked out on the dunes in an attempt to get to the top of one of the highest dunes in America. Not even half way up he quit! Didn’t make it! This always stuck with me and for eight years I’ve wondered what’s on the other side of that wall of sand.

The enormous piles of sand of Great Sand Dunes National Park form from a unique collision of winds that essentially keep the sand from blowing away. The lack of life and endless yellow sand are in stark contrast to the surrounding Rocky Mountains that Colorado is known for and make for a stunning landscape.

Also in stark contrast to our last visit, Everest and Fitz were cruising up the dunes often waiting for us to crawl up to them. From the moment we arrived they were chomping at the bit to scale the dunes, I had to hold them back while we anxiously waited for our cousin and uncle to arrive and join us! 

If I wanted to introduce someone into hiking and hope they enjoy it, this would not be the hike I’d choose for them. The walking is hard, each step up could end up sliding you backwards, at times forcing you to use your hands in the hot sand. The footprints of a mountain lion are there to remind you how tough life must be to survive out here. There is no shade or relief from the sun so we set out early and had breakfast after we returned from our trek. It was quite the challenge. Everyone made it to the top and we all finally got to see what’s on the other side. 

The trip down was worth all the struggles on the way up. Out of the entire three hour hike I think the descent took about 8 minutes of it as we sprinted down the sand taking massive Hulk leaps where you can get crazy air if you’re risky.

Fitz took a particularly steep route.