Again, I was up super early. That was good, as I knew the dunes would get hot. They weren't bad, but I was out there longer than I thought I'd be. Shorts and short sleeves worked. I was just lacking water a bit.I decided to just run straight through the creek with my shoes on. I began running up the dunes, knowing it wouldn't last. It was so hard and there was so much resistance. I began hiking and even that was a challenge.
Eventually, I learned that it was easiest to follow others footprints. It was early, but plenty of people were already on the dunes. A young girl led me for a bit, before her parents called her back.
I got to a fairly high dune. A group of guys were there. Then, I looked at the path and made my way toward the highest dune I could see. It was fun trying to find the best route. Luckily, some others already made that route.
The scenery of the dunes was amazing. It was like something out of a movie. These women were at the high dune. It seemed so far away. They were my target.
It took some time, but I made it to them. I told them I had focused on them from way down. They were super nice and opted to take my picture. I told them I'd stick with the scenery. Then, one pointed out a higher dune in the distance.
I didn't plan to go any farther, but I was up for the challenge. I headed off for it. This part became very interesting and fun. No one had gone past this point on the day yet. I was an explorer of sorts, making my own tracks.
I tried to read the dunes. I was hoping not to lose much elevation. I wanted to stay on the ridges. This did work for a bit, but I was getting nowhere. I was zigzagging and not getting any closer.
My shoes were started to get full of sand and I'd have to take them off and empty them. I did this steep climb where I was basically climbing. I could look back and see people watching me. They probably thought I was stupid and were probably laughing. I sort of was laughing at myself anyway. Some of the freshly blown sand was quite deep.
Finally after the climb, I bailed on the route and opted to head back down. The sand was soft in spots and so compact in others than you could run on it like pavement. Still, I couldn't run as much as I thought I would going down. It was often too loose or too steep.
I thought getting down would be easy. It was crazy though. I was so far out. I tried to aim for the best and smoothest route. I would often fail though. I'd get to a dune that seemed high and think it was the end. Then when I arrived, there would be at least 5 more rows of dunes. This seemed to repeat itself.
Following animal tracks didn't help much. I could see the creek, the beach and the mountains. I knew I'd never get lost, but it seemed like a never ending maze to leave the dunes. By now, I couldn't see the other people either.
I took my shoes off after awhile. They had too much sand. I ran barefoot, where I could run. It was mostly fast downhill hiking. I was running low on water.
I was so thrilled when I did finally make it to the creek and compact sand. I still couldn't run a lot. The main beach and parking area were still far off. I went and went and eventually got back to the people.
I saw a cute ranger coming up. I made sure to tell her about my adventure. Part of my reasoning is so the people watching me, didn't call search and rescue when I disappeared from their sight.
This was one of the most fun runs ever. It was so different. I enjoyed trying to navigate on my own. I did fail, but I wanted to be smart. I could've simply took a direct line to the highest dune, but that would've been a lot of work.
I'm heading to Colorado Springs before the trip is over. The plan is to run Manitou's Incline. It is a crazy steep climb up and old railway. It should be another adventure. It will be packed too.
5 miles - 2:01:06 (24:13 pace) 729 feet of elevation gain
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