12. Colorado Extension I - sand dunes...

Hey friends!

We've totally fallen in love with Colorado—there's just so much to do here! We kicked things off by wading through the ice-cold waters of Zapata Falls, then headed to Medano Creek and the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. Picture this: the sky was dark and heavy with clouds, lightning flashing just before the rain poured down. Our first time experiencing a heavy rainstorm in the desert! These dunes are the tallest in North America, sculpted by wind and water into a mesmerizing landscape of textures, shadows, and hidden wonders.

As Paulo Coelho said, "The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes." We embraced the unique wilderness by walking, running, jumping, rolling, and sliding down the dunes, feeling an incredible sense of freedom (for kids, it must be like a huge endless sandpit, haha). This area was once the homeland of the Jicarilla Apache, who danced here according to their traditions. The landscape is so varied—deserts, grassy valleys, and pine forests. From the Ponderosa Pines, they used to eat the inner bark, which has a sweet vanilla flavor similar to raw sugar cane. I wished they were still there and offered me some. I’d love to try that!

Penitente Canyon and its surroundings are a 4,500-hectare playground for outdoor enthusiasts and heritage tourists alike. Around 20-30 million years ago, eruptions in the San Juan Volcanic Field dramatically reshaped this area. The largest eruption spewed over 1,000 cubic miles of ash—one of the biggest in Earth's history! We did some rock climbing and biking, always on the lookout for rattlesnakes. So far, we’ve only spotted some deer...and a little green snake, but we couldn't tell if it was venomous or not; it disappeared too quickly for a photo. The climbing was great, though a bit slippery.

In the San Isabel National Forest, we hit the Venable Headtrail at 7am, climbed the Phantom Terrace, visited the Venable Falls, and reached our first 4,000-meter peak—Venable Peak (13,333 feet)—in just 4 hours. The entire loop back to the Comanche Headtrail took us 7 hours. Along the way, we saw deer, a squirrel, a chipmunk, several marmots, and even a black bear near a lake. It's getting unbearably hot below 3,000 meters, so it's much nicer to stay high up, away from the pesky insects like mosquitoes, flies, and red ants. Every day, we cool off with a refreshing dip in the river—the best air-conditioning ever!

Today, we visited Garden Park in Fremont County, known for its Jurassic fossil discoveries dating back to 1877 during the "Bone Wars" or "Great Dinosaur Rush." We tackled the Oil Well Flat MTB trail in this area, famous for dinosaur fossils from 150 million years ago. We stayed here three nights, and strangely enough, we got a natural morning call every day at 5am by wild roosters. The first day we went for MTB, and the following days were for climbing. We started the technical and strenuous MTB trail at 7am and finished by noon. It was an awesome adventure!
At the start, you're full of energy and excitement, ready to conquer every obstacle. You maneuver, twist, and push upwards, feeling strong and unstoppable. But as you progress, fatigue sets in—your arms and hands ache, and your body starts to resist. By the end, you're exhausted, just hoping for the trail to end, yet wishing it could last a bit longer to savor the final moments of the ride.
Despite the annoying flies, mosquitoes, and harsh terrain, it's an incredible experience. The trail is tough, hot, and unforgiving, with spiky bushes and cacti and rough, dry, stony ground, and edgy rocks you cannot avoid. Sometimes, if you try to go around them, you slip and hurt yourself. But overcoming these challenges makes you feel powerful and invincible.

We passed Cañon City (with five prisons) and Cripple Creek, which felt like a dead city with only one supermarket that didn't have fresh fruits or vegetables but ten casinos and a Chamonix Casino Hotel.

We drove along Shelf Road, also called the "Gold Belt Road." It was awful to drive with a non-4WD, but it has great climbing spots like Sand Gulch. It's a little like Sedona because of the red rocks. Better to start early as after lunch it gets unbearably hot and full of little biting insects. Eleven Mile Canyon is also a great place for sports climbing, and many people come here to fish. I enjoyed a great cool rewarding bath there after a day of climbing.

We hit another 4,000-meter peak, Mount Elbert (to be exact 4,401 m, which is 14,439 feet). Mt. Elbert is the highest 14er in Colorado. It was a harsh climb with stones, snow, and little streams in our way, and was difficult to catch air with the headwinds. Luckily, we did part of the trail with our bikes, so it was a really nice ending riding down through the forest. I even met a black bear 🐻about 7-10 m away from me. (When you meet a bear remember: "If it's black, fight back; if it's brown, lie down; if it's white, say good night." ) And a funny, cheeky marmot🦫 liked to pose in front of me.

In Snowmass where they found over >5000 fossils: bones of Mammoths 🦣 and other animals in 2010, we attended a lecture about the Ice Age. In the morning we went up the Cathedral Lake, which was a very nice hike first through a beautiful Aspern forest, then the vegetation changed to rocky & snowy terrain, also had to cross a little stream which was ice cold. Maroon Bells (4200m) is also a must visit in Snowmass!!! We tried to do the Maroon Bells Traverse (up the North and traverse to the South Bells) but we couldn't do the traverse due to too much snow. Despite the effort and the difficult terrain it was very beautiful. 😍 It was a 8hrs hike up the steep mountain but we were blessed with wonderful outlook on the top. In Red Stone we enjoyed some more MTB and nice natural hot springs ♨️ which was the highlight of the last months as we only wash ourselves in cold river waters. Next destinations Vail, where we did the Grand Traverse (10h Alpine hike, where we also encountered mountain goats with nice white fur like an ice bear)....

Last but not least, we drove up to the Continental Divide, the Independence Pass at 12,095 feet. That's where the Atlantic Ocean parts from the Pacific Ocean. Independence (10,900 feet) is a ghost town now. In 1880, gold was found, and many miners and entrepreneurs came here for a bitter hard job under cold conditions. Deer🦌 and marmots 🦫were almost extinct because the workers relied on them to survive the hard winters (Summer 0 to 15°C, winter got cold until -15°C).

Hope you are all well, and we would be super happy to hear from you now and then...or even come for a visit. We would love to share some adventures together with you! ❤️Читать далее