Pink Coral Sand Dunes

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Hike #3 of 2022.  2.0 miles / 12.5 miles YTD

Today we went to Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park and it was incredible!  This adventure might not technically be considered a hike because there was no trail - it was just walking/wandering around.  But it was at a state park so we will consider it so.  The dunes were so much taller and bigger than we were expecting.  The temp was 61*F in the valley, when we left home, but that altitude thing got us again and it was only 49*F, and breezy, at the dunes.  Some of the sand was even covered in snow.  So we were under-dressed in shorts and tshirts and we thought it might make for a short trip.  But once we got out on the dunes, it was actually a bit warmer, and maybe just slightly less windy, than it had been in the parking lot.  The dunes were actually a lot of work to climb up so we warmed up quickly.  

Dan and Summit running up the side of the dune.


We went up what had appeared to be the tallest one first.  But then when we got to each of the others, none of them really felt any smaller.  So we are kind of thinking that the valleys between the others may have been lower.  So they may not have been as high up in the sky but were just as tall from base to peak.  

Dan and Summit going up (what appeared to be) the tallest dune.

We learned on Thanksgiving (at Babylon Arch) that Summit loves sand and she showed that again today! I had brought her Rex Specs along because sand is ultimately one of the reasons that I got them.  We really have not worked on training with them.  However, it turned out that having her wear them in a situation where she wants to move more than she doesn't want to wear them actually helped her become okay with them fairly quickly.  They did still slow her down some but that actually worked out for the best, as well, because we certainly were not able to go up the dunes as fast as she would have otherwise liked to.  

Summit in her Rex Specs goggles.


We didn't officially track the distance of this one, and there wasn't a mapped trail.  But, with all the up and down we did, we are putting it down as two miles.  After we got done exploring, we drove through the campground to check out the sites and we do expect to be coming back for camping here as well.  And it would also be fun to try sledding down the dunes.  The visitor center rents out (what appears to be really nice) boards.  I am not sure how Summit will feel about going sledding but maybe we could get her to pull us down.  :)

The park was not busy at all today - but it wasn't a very nice day either.  I would imagine it might get quite busy on nice days but it would not be a good place to go in the extreme heat of summer - there is no shade on the dunes (well, aside from any shade the dunes themselves might create at points throughout the day).

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