When you last saw us, we were dusting a fine layer of sand off ourselves and everything in our tent after a rather windy night spent at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We unzipped the tent and stepped outside to enjoy the cool morning temps; watching the shadows on the giant dunes in the distance in front of us gradually lifting as the largest dunes in North America slowly became illuminated by the sun rising up from behind the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at our backs.

The first item on our agenda was to go for a great sandy hike on the great sandy dunes.

We packed up camp after coffee¹ and drove a short way to the parking lot of the dunes. We quickly ditched our shoes, and after crossing the flat expanse of sand that is seasonally the river bed of the Medano Creek (dry this time of year) started up the dunes.

My dune hike reached peak fulfillment when I crested the first dune and I announced cheerfully that this was as far as I cared to go. I spread our picnic blanket on its crest and sent Scott on his merry way to hike the High Dune trail to summit High Dune. As I watched him trudge away up the deep sand of the rolling dunes, and his figure grow more distant, I people-watched, and was particularly entertained by those that had brought skim boards to slide down the dunes, and enjoyed burying my feet into the cool sand of the shady side of the dune. I was glad we had gotten out on the dunes when we had because we had been warned that by late morning the sun would make the sand be nearly unbearably hot.

Eventually he worked his way back down to me and we headed back to the parking lot, collecting our shoes along the way. Once back at the rental car we dusted the sand off ourselves, and loaded up to begin covering the nearly 300 miles of scenic highways that Scott had mapped out for us, our sights set on eventually reaching Telluride that evening.

The first leg of the road trip entailed a several thousand feet climb up and over the scenic Wolf Creek Pass and because it was bright and clear, we got to take in the astonishing mountain views and stopped along the way for various overlooks, including Treasure Falls.

Of all the hikes we had lined up on this trip, this was probably the most tame. As we were starting out, a little Hispanic great-grandmother was toddling down the trail towards us, dressed primly in a dress and dressy pumps. A few seconds later the rest of her party rounded the turn and one of the ladies stopped to warn us that we were in for a treacherous hike. This was completely contradictory to the posted placards and information about the hike that we had read online; so, somewhat perplexed, we assured her that we would be fine. And we were.

The falls were pretty much dry this time of year but it still felt good to stretch our legs.

As we were making our descent, a not particularly fit looking group of hikers in their 30’s were huffing and puffing their way up the trail and asked us how much further the falls were. We assured them that they were close and that it wasn’t that bad and they replied that we probably weren’t the best people to ask because we looked like we were in much better shape than them. We got a good laugh out of the fact that one lady who had just made the hike with a little abuela in her Sunday finest felt like we needed warning and another group was impressed with our physical appearances.

After the falls we headed into Durango and stopped at a public park along the Animas River. We found a picnic shelter and munched on portions of the gargantuan $10 sub sandwich we had purchased yesterday at the grocery store, ignoring the fact that it wasn’t the best sandwich ever, and instead congratulated ourselves for buying it since it had been dinner last night and lunch today, and in today’s economy where food prices have soared, was a damn good bargain.

Outside of Durango we picked up the Million Dollar Highway. On this 25 mile stretch of scenic highway that connects Silverton to Ouray it began to cloud up and eventually rain. Despite the gloom, the views were impressive nonetheless and the weather could do nothing to hide the sheer dropoffs looming below us right at the road’s edge. I was thankful we were driving it in August, and not during the winter.

We stopped briefly in the cute mining town of Silverton before continuing on to Ouray.

As we got into Ouray, Scott pointed out the Ice Park that he had once visited where he climbed frozen waterfalls during the Ouray Ice Festival back in 2012.

Ouray is known for its many hot springs and we had decided to stop at the municipal hot springs in town for a quick soak. Scott had visited the springs multiple times throughout his many Colorado road trips and commented on the changes that they had made to the facility, including the increase in admission price. We got changed into our bathing suits and steamed ourselves like lobsters for as long as we could stand it, alternating between the various pools that had differing temperatures. It reminded me slightly of Baños in Ecuador with the pool right inside the town surrounded by mountains.

After we were thoroughly cooked, we changed and hit the road again, headed to our final destination of Telluride where we would be staying for the next few days, and would be potentially meeting Scott’s old college roommate Doug for dinner. He and a friend had been hiking a “14’er” today and had car trouble on their way home so it was up in the air as to if a dinner meetup would happen.

When we got close to Telluride we heard that the car trouble was sorted and he would meet us at the condo right in the heart of town that he had secured for us to stay in. We found the address without trouble and he met us and showed us where to park and led us to the condo. We changed and then agreed to meet him at a local restaurant just a block away shortly.

Over dinner and drinks we chatted and he and Scott caught up- it had been a few years since they had seen each other and they each gave life updates and a rundown of what they’d each been up to as well as updating each other on other college friends and acquaintances. This was my first time meeting Doug and it was nice to put a face to the name of someone who I have heard so much about over the years. At one point I got a laugh out of Doug saying that Scott was the most organized person he had ever met, and I agreed wholeheartedly!

Doug’s hiking friend who had been on the “14’er” hike had joined for dinner as well and we got to know him. We could tell that he and Doug were fading since they had begun their mountaineering adventure day at 3 AM so we said goodnight after Scott firmed up his plans with Doug for the next day which entailed a climb on the Telluride via ferrata.