Sand Dunes and Medano Pass - 6/2 to 6/4

[Patrolman]

We went to the Great Sand Dunes over the weekend. Left early Friday morning and were there for a late lunch. I had checked the park site multiple times to see if Medano Pass was open. It kept saying closed. When we got to the park, the rangers said there was damage to the trail over the Winter. Unsure if it was an avalanche or some sort of slide. They said that it needed to be cleared before they could re-open it. Bummer...

Friday afternoon we played in the water until the clouds/storms rolled in. Once things cleared a bit we headed out on the 4wd road that leads to Medano.
https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvis...guide-2015.pdf

We got probably 1/2 way between the Sand Pit and Castle Creek. Never saw anything too bad. I know that along this trail there used to be a section of sand that often required digging. Either we didn't go far enough, or it isn't as bad any more. The truck had the camper on the back and didn't blink at anything, but it was certainly worthy of 4wd - no car was going to get through.

Once we stopped on the trail, we decided to go sledding on the dunes. There are some particularly steep sections right in that area that are very close to the trail. Crossing the frigid cold river was exciting, but well worth it to slide down the sand!

After the sledding we returned to the main area of the park. Dinner was cooked at a day camp area (all the overnight spots were full). While we were cooking a few deer decided to see what was going on. The just casually walked through like we weren't even there.

[Patrolman]

Friday ended with us camping at Mountain Home State Park:
https://freecampsites.net/#!51430&query=sitedetails

Little known place about 30 miles SE of the dunes. Free semi-rural camping. No real neighbors to worry about. It was a great site with peace and quiet. It is on a dirt road that is easily accessible by car in good weather. Some of the camp spots may be difficult to get to in a car, particularly in bad weather. The reservoir is absolutely at a high point. You can see in one of the photos were the tire tracks just disappear into the water. They typically go around the lake a bit to more camp spots. Also there is "normally" a sand/gravel beach!

[Patrolman]

Saturday morning we were up early - only 34 degrees out that morning. Sure was nice to have a heater in the camper overnight! We arrived back at the dunes by 7:00AM. This is peak season at the dunes. The temps are very nice, there is lots of daylight, and the river is running as high as it gets. The parking lot fills fast. It was already 1/2 full when we arrived at 7:00, and likely full by 8:00. Cars then had to start parking along the roadway. We stayed the entire day until 5:00 to make the most of it! Hiked about 500 vertical feet to the top of a dune. Played in the water the rest of the day. Enjoyed having the truck as a "base camp" to change clothes, eat, nap, etc. The river was flowing about 200' wide at the widest stretch, and about 18" deep at the deepest point. Most of the water was mere inches, or even less than an inch.

[Patrolman]

Saturday night we stayed at Mountain Home State Park again. It was basically on the way back to Denver, and was such a good spot the previous night that we couldn't pass it up. Great camping once again.

Sunday morning we were up early again, and on the road about 7:00AM. The drive back to Denver was relatively boring except for when we pulled up to a vehicle on La Veta Pass that was smoking. Our first thought was that it had overheated, but the "smoke" was so dense and huge that I had to wonder. We stopped and as I walked up, the guys mentioned they had been flat towing it. It was a Chevy S10 Blazer being pulled with a tow-bar, automatic transmission. They said that suddenly the rear wheels locked up and they pulled their truck over - there was a couple hundred feet of skid marks leading to the side of the road. I then noticed the entire inside of the S10 was full of smoke. They opened the door to show me, and when they shut it it began to fill with smoke again. My wife noticed a fire had started under the S10 - so we quickly detached the truck towing it, blocked the wheels on the S10, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and sprayed the underside. To no avail - the flames simply continued on the top/side of the transmission - and flaming oil continued to drip to the asphalt. 911 was called, and all we could do was wait. Since the nearest fire station was 20-30 minutes away (and probably a volunteer force), we decided not to stick around. The guys still had their running truck safely moved away. All we could be was spectators at that point, and we still had 4 hours of road ahead.

All in all, a good trip, with minimal excitement, and lots of good memories. Limited wheeling unfortunately, but sometimes it happens that way. We will be returning again for sure!

[Brian]

We were there Saturday as well and I remember seeing your rig there that day. Great place to get away. Great pics!

[Jim]

Bummer for the car fire - though gladly not yours. Great to hear you had a nice time!! Thx for the pix.

[Chris]

I love that area, thanks for the write up Jeff. We might just have to make it our first trip this year after I get our trailer ready.

[Swank1975]

Bummer I was going to ask how the water crossings were this time of year. I bet they are up a bit. I ran that about 9 years ago. We want to do it again this year.

[FINOCJ]

Cheers Jeff - Looks nice. How were the mosquitoes? Sometimes they can be really bad this time of year around the Dunes and in the San Luis valley (or maybe just a bit later given the large snow pack).

[Chris]

The stream gets nasty with mosquitos! Anyone know if Hermit Pass is open?

[Patrolman]

There were no mosquitoes to be seen at all. The water is moving at a relatively good pace, so no place for them to sit in the stagnant pools. Once the water levels begin to drop a bit, I am sure that they will come out more.

When we were at the Mountain Home State Park, there were only a handful of gnats. No other bugs to be found their either. Again, the water is full with plenty of fresh water moving in to refill the reservoir. Everything was very green. It was great to see!

[Patrolman]

Doink previously posted:

[Brian]

I hear ya, it gives me the itch to get another truck camper.

[Java]

Thanks for sharing, it looks like an incredible trip! That Toyota is so cool.

[Patrolman]

So the truck probably had 1,000lbs in the back of it, not to mention a large "sail", so it wasn't the fastest on this trip. We probably averaged 55-60mph along the trip. There were some areas along hwy 160 where we got a bad headwind, and the truck would only go about 45mph in 4th gear. The "good" news though is the little 22re managed to pull off 16.9mpg for the entire round trip (finally did the calculations tonight). Not too bad! Normally it gets about 20mpg in town, and about 21-22mpg on the highway unloaded.

[EKXJ87]

Thanks for sharing the photos very cool! we have always talked about making a trip to the Dunes, I really need to make that trip happen.