By Nate Van Noord (RO Staff)
Since moving to The Springs from Detroit last summer, I have been so enamored with all the trails around town to ride, run, and hike, that I have barely ventured out to the rest of CO. However, a few buddies recently invited me to go skiing, my first time since 9th grade. Back then, I did a few bunny hills at Mount Holly in Michigan - a former trash dump.
So, a few weeks ago, we ventured to Keystone. On my first ride ever on a ski lift (the bunny hills at Mt. Holly had tow ropes) I fell down getting off and couldn’t get up. The lift operator rushed over to stand me back up.
After dusting off the snow, I made it down the bunny hill without falling. My buddies said I was ready for a green.
On the green, all these little 7 year olds whizzed by me without poles. Some were even tethered to their parents.
When it was time for lunch, I got down to the bottom of the run and my buddies were nowhere in sight. Left hanging, I had to ask a group of strangers to help me out of my skis.
All those 7 year olds and strangers on the mountain had me hyped though. Their enthusiasm for being outside and enjoying the mountain and snow was contagious. On my last couple runs, I took in the views and felt super grateful to be out there.
I decided it was time to start exploring the rest of Colorado.
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On the drive back from Keystone, one of my skiing buddies, Joel, told me about The Great Sand Dunes National Park and said it was super beautiful. My other two skiing buddies in the car agreed - even though they had never been.
Wait, you fellas grew up in Colorado Springs, I thought. 800-foot sand dunes sandwiched between prairie and 13,000 peeks, only 3 hours away, and y’all never been!
Right before I was about to say something, though, I remembered there are big sand dunes on Lake Michigan, 3 hours from Detroit. I had never been either.
Joel agreed to go with me the next weekend. On the way to the dunes, we drove past the snowcapped Spanish peaks and through little towns like Walsenburg and Ft. Garland.
When we arrived, we picked up a map at the visitor center, and parked in the half full lot.
We followed a small stream of folks heading up to Star Dune, the highest dune in North America. The recent snow, now only in sporadic patches, compacted the sand. We walked barefoot and the sand was cool, not blazing like in the summer. We passed a few kids trying to sandboard or sandsled. After an hour of hiking, we summited Star Dune and had our lunch. We debated if there were any other places like this in the world. Maybe in the Himalayas, the Andes, or in the Southern California desert. Or maybe just in Star Wars.
We kept walking, away from the crowd, trudging up steeper inclines and running down the declines. The dunes stretched for miles in every direction. After spending a few hours on the dunes, Joel and I agreed we needed to camp in the Park someday to do some star gazing.
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On the way back home we stopped at Zapata Falls, just a few miles outside the park. We hiked the half mile to see and touch the falls. They were frozen, but with a steady stream of water still rushing behind the ice.
As we drove home, past the Spanish peaks, a deep sense of gratitude settled in. Gazing out the window and thinking about the dunes and falls, I thanked God for hooking His creation up and making it so phenomenal. As Joel told me about other spots around Colorado, I started daydreaming of all the new landscapes to explore next.
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