Tuesday June 1, 2010

In the morning we waded through the waters of Medano Creek and hiked up High Dune, a 650 foot mountain of sand. From there we had an expansive view of all the dunes, the entire valley, and all the snow capped peaks surrounding us. The best part was running back down. The sand stops you so abruptly that no slope is too steep. One hour up. Half hour back. Todd did most of the downhill barefoot but the sand was way to hot for me and I wanted to protect my already weak toes. In the summer the sand can get up to 140 degrees!

After the dunes we took another very short hike to Zapata Falls. The Spring runoff is so high you can’t get up to where the falls are. Not on the trail anyway. In a bold move Todd decided we should wade upstream in the fresh snow-melt water our socks and shoes. Brrrr!!!!  It was worth it though. The waterfall was just gushing.

For our last adventure we stopped at Colorado Gators. It was really windy but we still enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. We held a baby alligator and they put its teeth marks on a “bravery certificate”. Aside from gators and snakes of every size they also had a wallaby, emus, goats, donkeys, and Todd’s favorite, this huge ostrich that hung out with us for awhile.

Our next stop is Pagosa Springs. We drove straight through Center, Colorado on our way to our their. My dad grew up in Center so I spent many childhood weekends there riding motorcycles up and down the ditches with him and my sister.

Vacation Workout 2:
10 rounds for time
10 push ups
10 situps
10 overhead squats  (Used a hotel towel as the bar/pvc pipe)
Time: 14:30  -  That is not really a good time. It is those pushups. By the last round I was doing them one at a time. Definitely needs work.