Summer's Final Phase! Great Sand Dunes National Park & Zapata Falls

The pictures loaded totally funky and out of order but i can't stand trying to fix it anymore!

We left Durango on Saturday morning and headed to Great Sand Dunes National Park. It's a three hour drive from Durango and about that same length from our house. It's something i've always wanted to check out and since it we'd be passing it on the way home, we added it to our trip. Doug drove to meet us and we arrived within minutes of each other!

I knew late July wasn't the most ideal time to visit--the stream would be dry and the beach-like play is a large part of the draw. It ended up being a ridiculously windy day, too. But we started with a picnic first and then headed to the Dunes armed with our tube (hoping to sand-sled) and sand toys. We hiked a ways up the hill. And, well, the boys were upset because the whipping wind was whipping sand into their bare legs. Then we got up the hill we thought would be good to sled down. We told Bode that he had to hang onto the tube because if he lets go, it will blow away. So he gets on and starts to sled down. The tube flips. Again and again. Over and over. But he didn't let go! I joke that it's the one time he's listened to us. He ended up very much caked in sand (serious face-plant) and was not happy. But he took it surprisingly well.

We decided to bag the sandy dunes and head back to where the stream runs. Nice wet packable sandcastle sand. We had a great time building a sandcastle. Colorado's version of the beach, right? So that part was really fun.

I do have to say, the Great Sand Dunes? Really really crazy. All of this sand collected in one spot between rocky mountains? It's really a sight to see. Beautiful pine treed mountains and then a huge area of sandy desert. The variety in nature is astounding.

After we'd had enough of the sand and were sufficiently filthy, we headed out to Zapata Falls. I noticed that it was just a few miles from the park entrance. It was a windy, unpaved drive up to the parking lot and then just a half mile hike uphill to the base of the stream. It was really busy and i wasn't sure what to expect. I knew we'd have to wade through some water to then get a view of the falls. This ended up being one my favorite things we've done as a family. Doug had Soren in the backpack and i looked out for the boys. We made our way along the rock walls to get upstream a bit. And then we started walking in the water. The ice cold snow melt water! Holy cow was it freezing! The boys balked a bit at first, but Bode continued. Keegen had to be carried. We'd walk across the rocks a ways and then find shallower water with a rock or two to stand on to try to give our freezing feet a little break. At one point Bode decided he couldn't do it anymore. It was loud and his feet felt weird and it was slippery and a little scary to himand he started to lose it a little bit. I had a little conversation that basically said, "You can do this. You're almost there. You're a tough kid. Let's just go a little bit further." And he did! He didn't dig in his heels and say no way. He went on. And we made it to the little opening in the rocks where you look up and see this amazing rush of water coming down. And he was like, "OK. Did it. Let's go back now." When we were all done i talked to him again and told him how proud i was of him and how he should feel really good about himself. That it got hard and a little scary but he found it in himself to do it. Anyway. It was a neat view. Fun to hike through the water. My feet eventually lost all sensation so the cold water became a non-issue! A nice way to cool off and get a little cleaner.

We hiked back out of the water to the side of the river (stream?) and the boys, appropriately, threw rocks. What better thing to do around a body of water? Then we hiked back down to the car and drove HOME.

Seriously, a perfect summer. Plenty of fun. Plenty of time at home with each other and friends. A visit to DC. A visit to Durango. I mean, really really perfect. I felt like we really squeezed all of our free time out and we'll be more than ready for school to start.