Great Sand Dunes #OptOutside

This past weekend, I discovered that I love sand! For #OptOutside Friday, my pawrents took me to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. What a stunning surprise! You'd never expect to see North America's tallest sand dunes sandwiched between the Rocky Mountains and the high-mountain deserts. The landscape here is so diverse - too much for my little flat nose to take in! This park highlights thirty square miles of tall, gray sand dunes, as well as grasslands, wetlands, conifer and aspen forests, alpine lakes and tundra. And it's dog-friendly!

We also picked a great day to explore the dunes. The sky was crystal-clear blue, the weather was cool, and the wind was still. I had so much fun sprinting through the sand, rolling down the dunes, and playing in the sand. The sand acts as if it is alive, dancing and rolling with the wind, avalanching and slipping through your paws with every step. I was in heaven!

But where do these sand dunes come from? The story of the dune's origins is constantly changing as geologists continue to unravel the many geologic mysteries of the dunes. In a nutshell, the Great Sand Dunes have been formed over thousands of years as sand deposits from mountain streams and lakes in the San Luis Valley floor are carried by forceful, northwesterly winds. The sands are caught by the low curve of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountain range and create the sand dunes in the valley below. An amazing geological feat in the southwest!  

Some of the dunes are super steep! I kept running in place trying to climb to the ridge of a massive dune and dug myself into a hole. My pawrents had to come rescue me and carry me to the top!

What a wonderful day for exploring and being outside this thanksgiving weekend. It is adventures like this with my pack that make me grateful. Hope all my furrends were able to #optoutside this weekend!

-Rosie