After spending a few weeks in your more Alpine areas, it was a huge relief to get back to something warm and dry.
I'd done Quandary Peak the day before so I wasn't up for a 20 miler, but I did hike up several of the dunes at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and visited one of the high points. There are two other high points in the park which I hope to come back for in 2025. There are also non-dunes hikes I might do, like the one to Mount Herard (a 13er).
This park is highly recommended, but some might find walking up sand dunes a bit more strenuous than hiking on packed dirt. I splayed my feet, used my poles, and leaned into the slope to make it easier going up. On the return you can plunge step down the dunes.
I'd stayed the night before in Pueblo, CO. It's a bit run down but I should have spent more time touring it and the surrounding area than I did. It's home to some steel production, including a mill owned by Russian oligarchs.
After the dunes, I drove to Farmington, NM. Likewise with more touring time there. I need to try to drive only a couple or three hours a day rather than 6 hours or so as I did in this case.
