29.03 Mojave National Preserve: Kelso Dunes, an outing for the kids and everyone else.
It may seem an outrageous statement, we seem to make a few, but one has not lived until one has run down a steep dune. This might not count as wisdom but some may understand what we mean. One of the axioms of life, certainly the way we see it, is that without the struggle or at least some effort, the reward is less beneficial, many times meaningless. Applying it practically, the climb up to the summit of these dunes on soft sand is a struggle. Literally, it is a step up followed by, at times, more than an equivalent slide down. Logically, to reach the top one has to make progress but often it feels there is no reaching of the goal. We have been on many dunes but perhaps the Kelso is the most trying and therefore, rewarding. Nevertheless, each set we have visited has provided its own joy and beauty. We've enjoyed them all. An all time favorite movie of mine (Jeffrey) is Chariots of Fire . There are aspects of it, especially the determination and class of Eric Liddel, the Scott...