Our first stop for today was the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. No way we could have made this stop yesterday with all the wind blowing the sand about but this morning is ideal. Bright blue sky, high white wispy clouds, very light breeze and comfortable temperatures, probably around 60 F and climbing. The cirrus cloud cover was actually welcome as full sun out on the open sand might have been a bit on the hot side, plus it provided an interesting backdrop. There was a decent sized collection of cars in the parking lot, but still plenty of open spaces. We quickly gathered our gear and headed for the sand. There were already several folks who were coming back from a walk around the dunes; they are easy to spot as they are the ones shaking the sand from their boots. Once out in the dunes we saw all manner of folks and all manner of footgear, from hiking boots to hiking sandals to flip-flops to nothing. I reckon this is one area that bare feet will work just fine (not for me but just fine for others). Lots of photographers in the area, most of them are finishing up as the best light has probably past for the morning. But I’ll take what I can get. There was a little clump of mesquite trees near the parking area with a lot of folks milling about and taking photos. Too many folks there at present so I’ll check that out on the way back to see if there are any interesting views. We just did a short walk out into the dunes, about 1.6 miles total, just meandering about. And all right at about sea level, give or take a few feet. We did not wander out to the tallest dunes; we’ll save that for the next trip. Lots of critter tracks in the sand; these had to be fresh as the wind yesterday morning should have erased anything from the previous days. We just meandered about the sand, sort of aimlessly, but taking in the views, looking at the tracks in the sand, watching the tourists and hoping for any kind of critter sightings. Sadly no critters, but it was still a fun little romp and made for some interesting photos. I think this is an area that I would like to explore more but closer to the golden hour for better light. We did not know it at the time, but this was yet another Star Wars episode IV filming location. Turns out that one of the Tatooine scenes with the droids was filmed here. While the dunes have obviously shifted countless times over the past 40 years since the filming (has it been that long!) the mountains in the distance are still the same and I was able to line up the ridge line from the movie scenes with some of my photos. Pretty cool as that is one of my favorite movies of all time. We ended up making a lollipop route through the dunes, walking mostly only the high points of the sand. We ended up back where we started near the clump of mesquite trees so I paused to get a photo or two of the twisted trunks against the sandy background. Then it was back to the Santa Fe to shake the sand out of my boots before heading to our next adventure, the hike up Moasic Canyon.

Hiking/Backpacking

Death Valley, Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, hike, walk, National Park, sand dunes

California, United States

time : Mar 27, 2016 8:43 AM

duration : 0h 58m 44s

distance : 1.6 mi

total_ascent : 272 ft

highest_point : 0 ft

avg_speed : N/A

user_id : OhioHick

user_firstname : Allen

user_lastname : Arrington

Our first stop for today was the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. No way we could have made this stop yesterday with all the wind blowing the sand about but this morning is ideal. Bright blue sky, high white wispy clouds, very light breeze and comfortable temperatures, probably around 60 F and climbing. The cirrus cloud cover was actually welcome as full sun out on the open sand might have been a bit on the hot side, plus it provided an interesting backdrop. There was a decent sized collection of cars in the parking lot, but still plenty of open spaces. We quickly gathered our gear and headed for the sand. There were already several folks who were coming back from a walk around the dunes; they are easy to spot as they are the ones shaking the sand from their boots. Once out in the dunes we saw all manner of folks and all manner of footgear, from hiking boots to hiking sandals to flip-flops to nothing. I reckon this is one area that bare feet will work just fine (not for me but just fine for others). Lots of photographers in the area, most of them are finishing up as the best light has probably past for the morning. But I’ll take what I can get. There was a little clump of mesquite trees near the parking area with a lot of folks milling about and taking photos. Too many folks there at present so I’ll check that out on the way back to see if there are any interesting views. We just did a short walk out into the dunes, about 1.6 miles total, just meandering about. And all right at about sea level, give or take a few feet. We did not wander out to the tallest dunes; we’ll save that for the next trip. Lots of critter tracks in the sand; these had to be fresh as the wind yesterday morning should have erased anything from the previous days. We just meandered about the sand, sort of aimlessly, but taking in the views, looking at the tracks in the sand, watching the tourists and hoping for any kind of critter sightings. Sadly no critters, but it was still a fun little romp and made for some interesting photos. I think this is an area that I would like to explore more but closer to the golden hour for better light. We did not know it at the time, but this was yet another Star Wars episode IV filming location. Turns out that one of the Tatooine scenes with the droids was filmed here. While the dunes have obviously shifted countless times over the past 40 years since the filming (has it been that long!) the mountains in the distance are still the same and I was able to line up the ridge line from the movie scenes with some of my photos. Pretty cool as that is one of my favorite movies of all time. We ended up making a lollipop route through the dunes, walking mostly only the high points of the sand. We ended up back where we started near the clump of mesquite trees so I paused to get a photo or two of the twisted trunks against the sandy background. Then it was back to the Santa Fe to shake the sand out of my boots before heading to our next adventure, the hike up Moasic Canyon.