9/6/12

The Great Sand Dunes

  The purpose of our mini roadtrip last weekend was to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado, as it was another natural wonder on my must-see list.  Colorado seriously has an overwhelming amount of beauty to offer.  It was about a five hour drive each way, but didn't seem bad with two people driving and with a stop in the middle for food.  Also, this is definitely not your typical outfit post.  In fact you may as well ignore what I am wearing, as it was for practical hiking purposes, and just enjoy the scenery!
Outfit Details:
Tank: Lucky Brand (old)
Shorts: Fossil (old)
Hat: Burton (old)
Shoes: American Eagle (old)
Backpack: Dakine via Ebay
     The sand dunes are quite a baffling phenomenon.  They are hundreds of square miles of sand piled in the middle of a valley and mountain range with an ocean no where in sight!  These pictures do not do the sheer height and size of the dunes justice, as it is hard to portray scale when everything is the same beige color.  I tried to use people in the pictures so you could see how tiny they were compared to the surroundings.  We hiked up the sand ridges for about an hour, which was super hard work! We did not make it to the official "high dune", but we got high enough where we could still really appreciate the amazing view.  
     The sand can reach temperatures of up to 140 degrees, which is crazy, but we got there early enough in the day that there was still a nice cloud cover.  This allowed me to hike all the way to the top barefoot, which was amazing! On they way down though the sun was shining in full force and I suddenly was doing a crazy hot-potato dance because my feet were burning so bad! You know how when you walk along a beach in mid summer, there comes a moment when you realize your feet are on fire and you need to sprint to the ocean that very second like your life depends on it?  Well, there was no ocean here.  I ended up flinging my body on the ground and balancing on my butt with my legs straight in the air until I located my shoes in my backpack. Whew. It was quite the sight I'm sure!
      I promise to have some more actual outfit posts now, as all of my adventure pictures are almost all used up.  Late summer and the beginning of sweater weather, here I come.  I still want to be able to wear dresses all the time, but also love when it is just cool enough to throw something cozy on top! With all my traveling I have also been completely neglecting my shop, but I promise to have an amazing update for you next week!
And one last thing! I just joined Chictopia yesterday (username braidedbandit), and I still am not too sure how it works!  If you guys have accounts on there or on lookbook, leave me your names and I will come say hi! If you have any tips of the trade, I'd love to hear them!
Happy Thursday
xo Hannah

18 comments:

  1. Wow! I love sand dunes, and what an unusual phenomenon. I can't believe you walked all the way to the top barefoot, that's the best feeling. Your feet must be very exfoliated! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome photos! I feel like I'm right there with you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my, these photos are breath-taking! Seriously stunning. Good luck with Chictopia, I always mean to sign up but never get around to it. Let me know how you like it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. lovely pictures! love the contrast of the harsh sand and the soft, cloudy sky :)
    Oh, My

    ReplyDelete
  5. Woah.

    Rachel
    floralprintsandcommonsense.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Okay so you could have told me this is in the Sahara and I probably would have believed you! Never expected there would be anything like this in Colorado - looks like it was incredible to visit

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh my god those dunes are so cool. i never would have guessed thats inc olorado

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful times a million Hannah! It seems that there are so many breathtaking places to explore out your way. I didn't even realize that Colorado had such dunes like that. I can hardly get over the blue sky either - sheesh, do you have the most perfect weather out there?

    Now I'm going to try and find you on Chictopia :) xo Marisa

    ReplyDelete
  9. Colorado offers such a huge diversity of landscapes too, when you compare the north of the state to the south. These are very neat features!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Woah, this looks amazing. what a radical trip!

    xoxo mama wolf.

    ReplyDelete
  11. wow! beautiful.
    the dunes, the sky... so beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Haha oh man, it can definitely feel like there's no hotter surface than hot sand! That's so funny xD
    We have sand dunes out here in Idaho that I've visited on a field trip back in 7th grade - it's a fun experience!
    Great photographs, it's so beautiful there.
    And thanks for the comment, I did get those sandals from Target - they were on clearance at the one I went to. They're super comfy!

    Trendy Teal

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my gorgeous!! Its super beautiful there. I'd love to go someday looks like lots of fun and so overwhelmingly big and pretty. Your story about throwing on your shoes totally sounds like something I would do in desperation :)

    -Jessi
    haircutandgeneralattitude.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hannah, these photos are gorgeous! I have never been to Colorado (minus the Denver airport like a million times, I won't count that) but I've heard it is an absolute paradise for the outdoorsy type (which I am, sometimes). I visited some sand dunes in San Luis Obispo (CA) a few years ago, and they are super cool and weird! Hard to hike on, for sure, so I won't count against your outfit. Just kidding, who even wears real clothes hiking! This is cuter than what I hike in! Anyway, I love the bright blue contrasting with allll that sand. I bet you were finding sand in your stuff for days ;)

    perfectly priya

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow I have never seen anything like that! It looks really fun to hike all the way up (although flinging myself on the ground to put on shoes sounds like something I would do too :P) Now I really want to visit there, the scenery looks amazing. Especially with the mountains in the background.

    ReplyDelete
  16. oh gosh, these photos are absolutely beautiful!!!!
    what an incredible location!
    xo TJ

    ReplyDelete
  17. oh WOW! WOWOWOW! these are amazing. they sound really cool but definitely difficult to walk in - 140 degrees!? ouchies. you look so great against the amazing backdrop

    <3 katherine
    of corgis and cocktails

    ReplyDelete