Great Sand Dunes National Monumen

Great Sand Dunes National Monument - 09/13/11 – Near Mosca Colorado.  Did a hike/run to the High Dune (8,691’) and looped over to Star Dune and then down.  The dunes were 650-750’ higher than the surrounding area.  Although this wasn’t the highest point in the park it was a “Dunes High Point”.

I started at the trailhead in the campground which added over a mile each way.  It took me 11:45 to run to the Mosca trail, 36;51 to the top, 25:33 down, and 10:20 back to the trailhead, I put in a loop around the campground to get 10 miles (1:27:50).

After that I headed out for a run up/down the Mosca Pass Trail, a “challenging hike which climbs 1,463’ into the mountain pass…it offers a good chance of seeing quite a bit of wildlife”.  I didn’t see any wildlife, but it was a very interesting run with all kinds of terrain and every turn seemed to have a different ecosystem.  Topped out at nearly 9,800’.