Hiking straight across the Great Sand Dunes?

[cougar]

[jdorje]

I may write up a trip report eventually, but I wanted to necro this thread to give some more info on this.

I "hiked straight across the Great Sand Dunes" this past weekend. From the main parking lot across high dune and then NNW to the north side of the dune field is about 6.5 miles as the crow flies, and took me 8.5 miles walking. This took 5 hours at a relaxed pace. From there it's another 8.5 miles on a good but sandy trail to Liberty gate, where I had a pickup arranged. The GPS claimed 2000 vertical, though 17 miles of sand made it feel like a lot more. The whole thing took 7 hours, 1 gallon of water, about a gram of salt, and maybe 1000 calories. That's with temperatures in the mid-60s and a partially cloudy day. Doing this in hotter weather could become really unpleasant, or even completely melt and destroy your shoes. Doing it on a windy day might be impossible. Crossing the dune field and then returning either the same way or along the Medano route, would be doable as a long day.

I recommend a somewhat shorter route, that I've done before: go to the top of High Dune, over to the top of Star Dune, straight across the dune field to Dune 8860, then back out to the parking lot. That's a half-day hike and puts you out "in the middle of" the dunes which is a unique experience.

[peter303]

It helps if you can do it after precipitation. Wet sand is more firm and easier to walk on.