Coral Pink Sand Dunes
When embarking on my Supergraphic challenge, I scan ahead and I see a few locations will take some creative license to complete. Utah Skiing is one of them. I have skied once in my life and hated it. If there is anything I hate more than skiing it’s being cold. I could, however, take advantage of the huge mounds at Coral Pink Sand Dunes for some winter-like fun in the 80-degree sun.
The sand comes from the Navajo sandstone from the Middle Jurassic period and the dunes are estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 years old. The same iron oxides and minerals that give the area spectacular red rock are also responsible for this landscape of coral pink sand. If not for a simple sign on HWY 89 I might not have heard of this park.
Snowboarding in June
As I arrive at the park, I see a group with snowboards begin scaling the largest dune. Thinking I’ll take some really cool action shots, I follow up the dune behind them with only Murphy and a camera. The group resides in Chicago so I assume they are proficient with the snowboards. It takes a while, but each of them eventually gets some pretty good runs in. They offer me a board to try but I politely decline. I do decide, however, that I’ll return the next day with a sled or flattened cardboard box to try a more age and balance appropriate version of the downhill.
My turn on the slopes
It is not well advertised but snowboards are available for rent at the park entrance. $20 will get you in the park with a board and a chunk of wax. I am the first one to arrive this morning. It’s awesome to be the only one here with the whole place to myself. I fly my drone over the dunes and let Murphy play in the sand chasing lizards before embarking upon the tiring climb to the top of the dune. Seeing another group enter the parking lot, I hurriedly land my drone and head out to the dunes.
I walk out over the pink coral dunes and am amazed that time and wind have erased most of the tracks from the day before, much like a giant etch-a-sketch.
The group, five curious Japanese tourists, follow me out to the dunes. I make a couple of attempts down the slope but it’s surprisingly difficult to keep the board from spinning and sending me rolling down the hill.
Now, I understand not a word the group is saying, but they are saying it with joviality and laughing. I don’t think they are directly laughing at me as I continue to wipe out. But the laughing stops when I hand the one appearing as leader the board.
My gesture is friendly and my intention good-natured. I never give a thought to our cultural differences and maybe I unwittingly issued a Samari type challenge that he can’t back away from and save face. A few, now eerily quiet, moments follow as I proceed to wax the board for him.
He straddles the board and begins his descent. After about 30 yards, the board spins and sends him rolling down the hill. He’s laughing much like a schoolgirl at this point. His friends are a pointing ruckus chorus of laughter as he carries the board the short distance back uphill. Pretty much a carbon copy of my first few attempts.
It looks so easy
I could tell he isn’t wanting to quit but he politely hands the board back to me and bows a “thank you”. I motion for him to keep trying, hand him the bar of wax, and point down the hill for another go. After a couple more bows of gratitude, he retreats back to his friends who are now an organized pit crew waxing, motioning, and surmising possible plans of attack. Still clueless as to what they are saying, we are all now fellow combatants trying to conquer this dreaded dune.
Subsequent attempts by him and a couple of others in his posse end in the same cloud of dust after a few yards. Finally, they all give up. Their faces are lit up with smiles and speckled with the coral colored sand.
Each had a camera and motioned if I would take their picture atop the dune posing with the board. I took the first photo and held up 2 fingers indicating I was gonna take a couple more photos. At which point they all flashed back a peace sign to me.
That moment just struck me Only a few decades ago our countries were at war with each other. Now, something as simple as a slick piece of wood and a hill of ancient sand brings us together for a moment of sheer unadulterated fun. The only war to fight was to beat gravity down that hill. There is a lesson in there somewhere I surmise momentarily, before rewaxing my board and giving it yet another go. Peace!
When not on the road, he helps others fulfill their yearning to travel as a Membership Specialist for Thousand Trails.
Wonderful to see the joy in being a ‘kid’ again!!! Murphy is beside himself laughing ‘with’ you I am sure. Great watching someone check things off of their bucket list. I’m still working on mine, though in the summer with that four-letter word ‘work’ interfering it slows down a bit.
Let me know if you are able to get to the upstate NY area….meaning the Adirondacks not that area further west who think they are upstate. LOL Would love to show you and Murphy and anyone else, absolutely beautiful Lake George, she is a gem that we really don’t want everyone to know about, so….ssssshhhhh 🙂
I’ve been reading your stories since you started. This is my favorite, I felt like I was right there. Thank you for sharing. Loved the video too!
Another great adventure! Thank you for sharing.