The high wind warning is behind us. The wind was supposed to be 30-35 mph with
gusts up to 50-70 mph. It’s a new day –
with a new weather warning – a freeze warning!
Record lows for tonight around 27 degrees. We are really roughing it (with our heated camper - yippee!).
We went back to GSDNP today.
The wind was much calmer - still windy, but much more bearable than
yesterday. Carmen really wanted to make
it to the “top.” The Great Dune is sort
of straight ahead as you cross the creek.
It is one peak of many. We almost
made it, but the hills got steeper and windier the higher up we climbed. We decided we had gone farther than lots of 9
and 12 year olds and that was good enough!
(2 mi round trip?) Coming down
was much easier today because the wind was lighter. (Going up you kind of had the wind at your
back, so yesterday, coming down was the hardest part!)
After hiking the dunes, we ate an early lunch – it makes you
HUNGRY! Then we hiked some of the Mosca
Pass Trail. This is more of a forest
trail along Medano Creek. (It is the
same creek you cross to get to the dunes, but a different part.) We didn’t go far on this (1 mi round trip)
because we wanted to save some energy for one last hike.
Just outside the park is Zapata Falls. You drive up the mountain about 3 mi along a
windy, bumpy gravel road. Then you hike
in another .5 mi to the falls. To see
the falls you actually have to hike/climb into a cave along the wet, rocky edge of
the creek. Audra and I got quite
attached to a little bench by the creek, but Carmen was dying to see the falls. This was the hike she had been waiting
for. Brad took her in and made pictures
of the 30 ft. waterfall. She came back
with icy, soaked tennis shoes, but was elated.
So we hiked 4 mi today, but 1 of them was more like climbing
(in sand!) and 1 was hiking up a mountainside, so all in all, a pretty physical
and fulfilling day! This is truly a
beautiful place! It was not a planned
stop. So glad we detoured here!
Detours are great! You should keep track of all of them. Planning is over rated:)
ReplyDeleteGlad y'all are having fun. I sure do enjoy the pictures!
Love y'all