Great Sand Dunes National Park

Anyone with a camera and a love for the outdoors is familiar with the phrase “chasing the sunrise,” which refers to the act of waking early to capture images of the sunrise at a beautiful location. On paper, waking early just to start the day with a moment of beauty is pretty romantic. That’s all well and good until you’re about three hours from your destination, and sunrise is coming quick. The “chasing” becomes more like “taking a panicked road trip in the dark.”

The latter was my experience during a day trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We drove three hours from Colorado Springs at 3AM in hopes of catching the sunrise over the Dunes and avoiding the high-noon heatwave.

Through darkness and a near-miss accident involving rogue deer, we made it.

“We” includes myself, my husband, my brother, and my brother-in-law. The four of us managed to crawl out of bed and be on the road at 3AM, which is no small feat for these guys. By the time we reached Great Sand Dunes National Park, the sun was already peaking out over the horizon.

We walked across a small, but freezing cold braided river towards the Dunes and picked a mound to rest on while I thawed out my toes. Our tired legs weren’t happy, but there was no quicker way to wake us up than having to cross a glorified puddle of the coldest water on earth. Okay, I’m exaggerating.

I can’t say that getting icicle toes weren’t worth it, though. The views in Great Sand Dunes National Park offer 360° of unyielding allure. The young morning light danced across the sand in shades of pink and purple while the clear sky above deepened into its blue.

Freezing cold, eyes ready to go back to bed, and sand in places we won’t mention, we caught that sunrise.

I won’t go into detail about our trip back to the car, but I will say that I wish I had done more research on the mosquito population in this part of the desert. Consider this your warning.