Heavy Rain, Storms and Flooding Change Our Plans - The Highest Sand Dunes in the USA - Part 3

i made a reputation for ourselves at age what we should do i wonder if you think about me too [Music] but it's too late now i just miss you i just miss you [Music] it's 2 am and i can't fall this thing my friends welcome to part three of the summer 2022 road trip susie and i are out on some bml land dispersed camping right below this incredible mountain as it stands right now we are surrounded by rain and thunderstorms there are storms all over the place the lightning has been incredible so far as it stands right now a big storm is coming this way and it should begin raining within the hour about 15 minutes from here is the great sand dune national park and tomorrow susie and i are going there to explore with you all unfortunately our plans for that trip have changed and that's because of the weather unfortunately originally when we planned to do this we were going to do a backpacking trip but the forecast for tomorrow and for the next week is nothing but strong storms just like what they're receiving today because of the forecast our only chance to experience those sand dunes is to get out there early tomorrow morning and that's the plan i can't wait it is insanely beautiful over there or at least the pictures that i've seen they are they are the tallest sand dunes in north america and folks it's gonna be sweet i'm a little disappointed that we can't stay there and backpack but the chance of storms is incredibly high because of covid and how things are different it's kind of difficult to get permits and everything that you need so we took a guess got our permit we have everything printed out but the weather is not going to cooperate and even if we changed it a day earlier or a day later it's not going to cooperate so i think we will just have to hike and explore it is what it is unfortunately but nonetheless we are going to have a great time that i promise you oh no everyone it is beginning to rain we waited too long let's try to rush and get this done [Music] together susie and i we tag teamed it we got it done we are surrounded by rain right now there's a big wall coming this way you can see over here this is so cool this is so cool i don't know how this really plays out with like the great sand dunes national park i have no idea what to expect but i'm excited to go check it out i can imagine like every bit of it like sticking to you i know sounds miserable i don't know i know we have no idea what to expect but i don't know we're gonna eat dinner turn in and try to get there early maybe the passing storm and rain tonight will be short and sweet and we will see those we will see for dinner tonight we are having roast beef sandwiches and a caesar salad i tried to make it very quick and it's probably cold already but we were racing against the rain we got it done yes yeah oh let's see behind us is mount blanca i believe that's a 14 000 foot peak i think the road up here is super super rough this is about as far as we want it to go and luckily we have a good spot from what i understand it's another couple of miles to the actual trailhead we have the sun setting over here we have lightning and rain coming this direction over here we have this mountain behind us it does not get any better than that no complaints no complaints all right folks we're going to wrap this up we're going to have dinner call it a night we will see you all in the morning let the adventure begin cheers cheers we got it done in the nick of time i mean it's right over there the wall of rain is right there [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we've made it out to the great sand dunes national park and currently we're trying to navigate this creek bed it's about 7 30 a.m the sun is up but luckily it's behind the clouds over here we stayed on some blm land about 15 minutes away from here last night had a great night the thing is it rained last night it stormed last night so now there's quite a bit of water here this makes it kind of fun it's kind of a game can you get across without your feet getting wet i think we're getting wet folks that's a torrent of water right there that's the definition of a torrent okay so susie she's going down this way i think her resistance is futile for this adventure everyone susie and i we went with two different philosophies here i went with flip-flops she went with shoes i'm not sure which one's the right one to go with i guess we'll find out together hmm whoa this is like quicksand well i'm wet screw it yeah it's pretty cold but it feels good that's my philosophy just get it done who cares now susie she's on the other side of this river hey i have an idea piggyback ride does this feel unstable to you nope feels great i love this part just go up the dunes like this i'm a porter is this the entire hike like i get to ride on your back freaks now okay you can drop me now no i kind of liked it huh i don't see any other husbands out here carrying their wives across this no you're one of a kind wow everyone this is really really cool these are the tallest sand dunes in north america and here in a moment we'll be away from everyone else and that's because susie and i we're off to do our own thing right after i give susie another piggy back right here we go across another river here at the great sand dunes this place is massive so while there are a lot of people here the main thing that they come to do is to sled down the dunes but luckily there's so much space it doesn't take long to get away from everybody on screen these dunes may not look that tall but they are the tallest one is 750 feet how about that one cool thing about this place is that you can disperse camp here all you have to do is get above the highest point once you're past that you can camp anywhere you want originally our plan was to backpack here stay the night but the chance of rain and storms is just too high every single day in colorado non-stop storms in fact the road coming out here was flooded they had to use a bulldozer to open it at some point in time yesterday as luke mentioned we had a permit so we could do some backpacking here there are about 20 permits that they have each day for people to disperse camp on the dunes and you have to get those online so it can be a little bit tricky because you have to plan ahead know when you're coming and have all of that information printed out unfortunately all week long the chance of storms and rain is just too high in the afternoon so we didn't want to be caught out here in a bad storm or in a flooding situation so we came out here this morning to do some hiking and to enjoy the dunes i think it's better to get to see them and have this experience than not at all susie and i are getting started early this morning out here on the dunes and that's because you pretty much have to in the warmer months the temperature of the sand can get up to like 150 degrees so if you want to come out here and play explore do it early do it late if you're going to backpack the dunes it's recommended that you come in the afternoon then head over get started around six o'clock you'll be in good shape one of the most striking elements to this location is that you are surrounded by these mountains i mean there are peaks all the way around it is so cool if you decide to come out here you're gonna love it and as susie said this place is big enough where everybody can go off and explore in their own location we're over here on this side and we see absolutely no one we are about to start climbing up the sand and so far walking across has been very easy the sand is hard packed we will see what this climb up is going to be like i can't wait to get to the top this place is just absolutely incredible i've never ever seen anything like this when you think of sand and dunes you automatically think of the beach and we are nowhere near a beach susie it's as hard as a rock it's like walking on concrete it is maybe that's a good thing yeah we're walking along here and we're coming across some tracks i'm pretty sure this person has six toes one two three four five six one two three four five six if you have six toes hit the thumbs up if you have five hit the thumbs up there goes luke i think he's having way too much fun out here on the dunes the interesting thing about these is it's estimated that you need an hour to an hour and a half to reach the top but what's funny is you can come down in about 15 minutes or less i almost feel like the rain hitting this area has been a benefit to us hiking on these because it's really packed which way do you want to go susie shall we go over here and then work our way up or should we just go for it straight up and over extremely difficult easy easy okay now when it comes to like the sledding and whatnot you can rent those here i guess susie and i have no desire to do that i i do not want to cram sand into every orifice of my body susie and i we've been out here for i don't know maybe 30 minutes something like that and already it is warming up you can tell that this place gets hot and it gets hot fast luckily the sun is in the clouds but it won't be for much longer the jackets have to come off it is getting hot right now it's towards the end of july and you're looking at temperatures during the day around 80 degrees as a refresher suzy and i we've been on the road for roughly two weeks now we've been over landing the entire time we spent about a week in south dakota which was incredible we cruised over to wyoming then into colorado this is the last leg of our trip once we get done with this we're headed back home to north carolina wow as soon as you get to the top of one of these dunes you look around and it's really really impressive when it comes to our adventures luke and i are done exploring colorado we have seen every part of this state and while we haven't done every trail or every mountain by any means there are other places that we want to explore because we've explored so much of colorado it's time to move on to different states everyone south dakota has my attention right now i really really enjoyed my time there it's beautiful it's so quiet and peaceful we saw no one there's a lot of opportunity to go off trail to explore all by yourself and i'm looking forward to doing more of that in the future we started down there we've come up coming up this dune here we are going to follow this ridge and just keep on going if this wasn't wet and hard packed this would be extremely difficult but as is this is pretty easy we're still huffing and puffing due to the elevation speaking of which 8473 as you all know luke and i love colorado we have been to this state so many times we've had amazing adventures here we've done some incredible backpacking trips one thing i have learned over the years is the best way to see the country is to travel by car that's where you really get to see everything about our country and you see the bad and the good so while there are beautiful parts of colorado we're just calling it like it is there are some ugly parts and it's like that everywhere you go it is pretty striking as you're hiking on this again you have these mountains but then over here you have the prairie i mean it's just unreal because of the great sand dune national park that's why we're back in colorado for this adventure susie has been wanting to come here for so long and the time was right so susie what do you think so far it's amazing i mean it's definitely worth seeing we're starting to go up this extremely steep area here it's deceptive when we were back there it didn't look this steep but it is to give you all an idea of scale and just how steep this is susie will stay here i will run up here oh boy i don't think i'm gonna be able to run up that sand dune like luke whoo there he is i think he got his cardio in for today this place has been on my list for like the last couple of trips to colorado and we never had time to come down here we were always in a different part of colorado i'm glad that we took the time to come back definitely america has some beautiful national parks and you can really see beautiful landscapes by visiting them if you want a leg workout run up this as far as the dunes go there are no venomous snakes out here no rattlesnakes there's no bears they stay up in the mountains there are mountain lion out here but there's never been a recorded attack if you're going to come out here bring lots of water also wear light-colored clothing this will get you to huff and puff for sure judging skill is difficult when you're watching it on a screen if susie was to take that water bottle and put it on the ground it would shoot off like a rocket because this is steep it's disorienting being at 8 000 feet in elevation so usually what i do when i need to take a break i will actually kind of squat down and i just feel like it helps ground me because when you're out of breath and you're climbing and you are at a higher elevation when you stop to rest you can almost get dizzy feeling and that can cause you to fall and the last thing you want to do is fall because you're going to roll and roll and roll down the sand dune and you will be covered in sand we are almost to the top of one of the highest dunes look at that spine how neat is that once you're at this point you can camp anywhere you want to i would recommend down in a depression that's going to block some wind if the sand is dry and it's windy it will blow all over the place and it's going to blow inside of your tent and there's nothing you could do to stop it if you decide to come out here to backpack you best love sand now you may be wondering what about thunderstorms out here thunderstorms are a real possibility it happens if you get caught in one go to the lowest depression possible sit on top of your backpack and crouch down and hope and pray rub your lucky rabbit's foot whatever you want to do the best thing is to get out before the storm gets here you do not want to get caught in a thunderstorm out here lightning will strike the dunes when you're at the top here you really see just how expansive this is and that's something i didn't realize this place is massive it just keeps on going oh my god you could tell she used to rollerblade folks you can tell it's nine o'clock in the morning now the sun is still obscured a little bit but i could tell you already at nine o'clock with full sun it would be hot really really hot i don't see anybody camping suzie every single permit was taken for last night and there's no one out here no one's been out here you could tell everybody's going up to the ridges here the first ones and that's it no campers which is smart because it rocked and rolled yesterday it looks like we have clouds building over here coming this direction it's probably a good time to start making our way down from here what do you think susie in just a couple hours it calls for storms and the chance is like 80 so it's definitely coming the best thing to do is to start making our way off of the dunes i'm so thankful that we got to experience it though i went ahead and put my jacket back on that way blocked some of the sun here the weather is definitely changing the mountain over here is being engulfed in clouds we'll make it back to the van after we uh cross the river are you ready for a piggyback ride yes [Music] that's the best part heck yeah look how that mountain is now being engulfed in clouds yeah things are changing things are building yep i am so glad that we were able to come out here and experience this place for susie it's unfortunate that we couldn't backpack but that's okay we still got the full experience if you haven't come out here before you definitely should susie let's make our way back to the van shall we sounds good it's coffee time coffee coffee i think that movie dante's peak which is actually one of my favorite movies i also read the book but um there's that one guy and he's like coffee coffee coffee coffee cappuccino it's so hard to tolerate me and my addiction i have to live with that folks an [Music] cause addict time you touch me i can't control my body [Music] i'm giving up [Music] i don't know is [Music] i don't know how you do it is [Music] i just can't resist you i'm giving up i'm giving up [Music] i am [Applause] cheers susie cheers cheers viewers this adventure is coming to an end folks after i don't know how many days on the road i can't even count that high it's time for us to go back to north carolina yep we have about three to four days as we make our way back to north carolina we really won't be doing anything we're going to be traveling through the middle of the country this was a time of the year that was the hottest across the country in many places this whole trip everywhere that we traveled has just been the hottest temperatures on record for many of the places that we were super super hot when we were at the badlands someone actually died that day they had gotten lost didn't have enough water their cell phone service there they were able to call for help but they passed away before help could get to them yeah we were there and we got out did a little bit of hiking we were taking some photos things like that i mean you could just feel the sun frying your skin for most of that trek through the badlands we were driving and just looking at the scenery and then a few days later just reading news headlines we saw that someone had died the exact day that we were there and you can totally see why you need lots of water for these places but it's like it's really deceptive it's like 103 degrees or whatever but it's windy so it's like it feels so much cooler than it really is our condolences to the family there let's see when we went over to wyoming we went to the devil's tower didn't film any of that there was numerous people suffering from heat stroke it was actually kind of a weird situation you could tell like these are tourists some people they had sweaters on like they were accustomed to like the ac in their rvs it was chilly to them they get out it's breezy they're walking around and all of a sudden it hits you you and i were dressed appropriately lots of water lots of shade and it was hot as we had so much fun we saw so many things on this trip south dakota i fell in love with it it was absolutely amazing it's just beautiful the feeling there was just incredible this was one of those trips where we just wanted to bring you guys along and show you hey look at all that you can do and we did this on a budget at the very end of this episode we will go over all of the stats including the most common broken down vehicle how much time we spent driving how many miles how much it cost on fuel how much we spent on food water and so on so let's go over our thoughts about this trip as we always do susie what was your favorite state my favorite state was south dakota okay what was your favorite place that we explored along the way my favorite place on this trip was custer state park which is in south dakota that place is amazing it's a beautiful drive beautiful there's some amazing viewpoints with just like short hiking and we had such a cool experience there with buffalo which is what i wanted you know i wanted that cool experience that you see everyone having when they drive through like yellowstone and like big parks like that so we had that in custer it was special anytime that you see those videos where people are like getting out of their vehicles and they're messing with those bison those people are pure idiots those animals are so big i've never seen one that was the first time yeah i don't know why you would want to mess with that you know we are in their space we are in their territory so they own it and they know it they do let them do what they gotta do it was my first buffalo traffic jam and i loved every minute of it so that's gonna stand out for me on this trip this is something so simple like anybody can go have that experience you know let's see my favorite state without a doubt was south dakota amazingly beautiful it was just so well taken care of the way that they like work to prevent like forest fires and whatnot is really really smart and it's something that the rest of the country should be doing especially california and i believe not talking politics but i think trump actually recommended this to them you can see this taking place in south dakota they have groups they have teams that go through the forest picking up all the deadfall putting it in piles that way if there is a fire it's easier to control because the fuel is not all over the place it's really really smart anyways i absolutely loved it i cannot wait to go back heading back in the fall when it's cool there's just so much exploring to do custer state park was absolutely amazing i really enjoyed that that was special for myself my least favorite were the mount rushmore attraction and the crazy horse attraction neither one of those really did much for me like uh mount rushmore is cool from a technical aspect for this trip because we had unlimited time we were so close to some of these touristy things that i wanted to take a little bit of time and go to them because it's once in a lifetime you know you're you're an hour from this place or two hours from this place so you might as well just go see it and they are tourist attractions they're super busy not super fun it wasn't super impressive but it was kind of one of those things where i was like well i want to see it while i'm here and it was like the least favorite part of the trip so the devil's tower that was cool devil's tower was really cool i grew up watching a movie that's called close encounters of the third kind you all have seen that everybody has had to have seen that so i've just kind of dreamed about seeing that place forever and the same with mount rushmore actually that was in a movie that i watched as a kid and i always thought wow that would be so cool to see and then i saw it and i really i was like okay i mean it's i thought it would be bigger but i guess because you're still so far away from it i think there are trails that take you closer but it was so hot yeah been there done that checked it off that was probably the least favorite part we didn't show too much of the touristy extra stuff that we did yeah least favorite state i would have to say this time it was colorado it's kind of a bittersweet sort of thing it's like colorado is super super beautiful but like this time like the amount of garbage out here i guess maybe it's like i was filming so i'm just really focused on it but it's like every single shot i was trying to take it's like there's this big pile of crap over here there's this stripped out vehicle over here it's like this busted up this and i mean it's just garbage everywhere and i think like after a couple of days of like trying to film around this i was getting frustrated it really does taint the experience so it's like you have like this amazing landscape with so much crap everywhere right i agree colorado was my least favorite part of this trip it's interesting that we ended up going through south dakota because i wanted to drive a different way that's the only reason we headed that direction and that turned out to be the best part as soon as we hit colorado the traffic was really bad that day the roads went straight to hell yeah it was stressful just getting into colorado that day so the drivers like i think it's uh like they're the worst in colorado than any other state and it shows i mean it's just nonsense i mean just people just doing this and then slamming in the walls crossing causing huge accidents it was just it was really aggressive driving so after a week of being in south dakota and wyoming where there's not a lot of traffic you don't see anybody it was overwhelming and we got to colorado we have done the things that we wanted to do but i kind of feel like it's the last time i'm done yeah i agree with you again like if you live here not trying to hurt your feelings not trying to upset you we talk to people who live here who say the exact same thing we talk to people who are leaving the state for those reasons and others anyways we do love colorado even though there's disappointing aspects uh let's see here favorite meal on this trip for myself we stopped someplace in iowa i don't even know the name i think it was iowa it was called teriyaki madness i'm pretty sure that was freaking awesome that was my favorite too we love asian food and chinese food and things like that this was really good they nailed all their sauces they gave you extra it was really really good it was freaking awesome if you have one in your area you're lucky yeah that was good we had never heard of it we just saw it and thought well that would be a good meal to try so uh was that your favorite that was my favorite worst least favorite i guess i should say least favorite meal buffalo hot dog i know you're gonna say the hot dog that's my least favorite okay mine too yeah i think that's it i think we are gonna head back to north carolina we really appreciate you guys joining us for this road trip summer 2022 yeah i hope you guys enjoyed following us along on our travels there may possibly be a fall trip coming up so we shall see if you're interested in our van setup and what we use and why we use it we did film a video going over everything in here so make sure to check the channel you'll find that but folks we are done enjoy the montage as we go home we'll go over some stats susie let's go home let's go home guys gals let's go home strength and honor to you all hit the thumbs up before you go it does help the channel if you want to support the channel the outdoor group review is agenda free we're here to share our experiences we'll tell you how it is the good the bad we'll show the good and the bad take care strength and honor bye for now bye baby hold me in your arms tonight don't move an inch it's like you're laying [Music] no distractions just attraction [Music] makes me lose baby let's go [Music] [Music] baby baby come a little closer to me [Music] i need your touch i need your warmth it's your everything [Music] no distractions just attraction [Music] so baby [Music] so baby let's go is [Music] [Music] make a move baby you got nothing to lose give me that give me that give me that good reaction gonna make it right little like an offer i can't [Music] oh [Music] you

Channel: TheOutdoorGearReview

Views: 89,386

Keywords: outdoors, camp, camping, camping adventure, backpacking, car camping, overland adventure, overland camping, overland van, overland setup, overland thunderstorm, overlanding, van Camping, Sleeping in van, Van life, living in a van, traveling, traveling across the country, summer storms, camping thunderstorm, mountain camping, forest camping, wilderness camping, backcountry camping, south dakota, overlanding south dakota, overlanding in the rain, van camping in the rain

Id: Yt2R6S4uUuI

Length: 40min 11sec (2411 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 25 2022