July 3rd-6th, 2005
Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

The next leg of our trip was in Sand Dunes National Park. We drove directly from our backpacking trip to Sand Dunes.

Sand Dunes
We spent of first day in Sand Dunes playing out in the dunes. Some of the group went to climb the Great Dune (the highest dune) while others stayed back and played on some lower dunes and in the river that runs through the edge of the dunes. The night before, a group spent the nights out in the dunes. They were treated to a beautiful view of the stars.

Culebra
Culebra was our next fourteen thousand foot peak. It was Jim’s last fourteener so there was must celebration on the top. Culebra is the only private fourteener and is therefore difficult to gain access to. The ranch treated our group magnificently. The mountain was different than most others because it doesn’t have a trail, so we spread our group across the tundra to reduce our impact.

Rafting
The rafting group drove about an hour to Noah’s Ark which is located near the town of Beauna Vista. The river has rapids ranging from class II to class III. It took approximately 4 hours to complete the exciting ride. The group was forced to take oared rafts because of the age of many of our participants.

Sherman
Our final mountain was Mt. Sherman. The mountain was fairly easy and was on our way back to Dillion. Sherman was the first fourteener for Linda and Penny, they did a wonderful job. We reached the summit around eleven and even had a chance to glissade. After we reached the trailhead, we loaded back into the cars and drove the final stretch to Dillion. We got a chance to take well needed showers when we got back.