Dune
We had to avoid stepping on frogs the size of flies that were hopping across our path. The sand felt like talc beneath our bare feet. We followed others who seemed to know the way. Eventually, the narrow winding pathway opened to an eerie scene. People walked in groups, in pairs, or on their own, around a pond, past some hang gliding equipment, and then up and down some of the tallest natural sand dunes in the country. It was a pilgrimage that reminded me of something out of a science fiction movie. We were going to watch the setting sun at Jockey State Park, but it might have been a space ship landing. Some had already reached the top of the first dune. They stood lined up, looking like miniature people in a blur of whirling sand to those of us below.
The dunes run for miles along the coastline of Nags Head, North Carolina. The tallest, Jockey Ridge, is 80 to 100 feet high, depending on the weather. It likely got its name from stories of early inhabitants who captured wild ponies and rode them on the ridge, the state park brochure says. Like most natural treasures, the people of area had to fight to preserve it from encroaching development. It became a State Park in 1974 due to their efforts.
On the dunes, the force of wind was dizzying. It made the bottle of beer that Joe and I shared whistle. I felt like we had been transported to the Sahara, or the moon. Grains of sand whipped against us, stinging our skin. Our voices were muffled against the roar, and my scalp was matted with sand.
The people at the dune were as interesting to me as the landscape was. From the top of the final and largest dune, we looked back at them. A few children rolled down the dune on their sides. A man in sneakers was running and shouting something. Two Amish women stood on a peak talking while their dresses flapped wildly in the wind.
There was plenty of room to spread out. "Do you think anyone has ever gotten married up here?" I asked Joe.
He had to go back into the valley between dunes to get his knapsack, where he had dropped it earlier so that he’d be free to do cartwheels.
“I’ll be buried in sand when you get back,” I told him.
Comments
The seashore quite obviously agrees with you.
Posted by: Jennifer | September 26, 2006 9:48 AM
The image of the man in sneakers running and shouting something gives me the giggles!
I love to watch how nature brings the wild out of people.
Sounds spectacular. I'm putting this on my list of "To Sees"
Posted by: Josephine | September 26, 2006 9:52 AM
Your writing these last few days has been sooo inviting.
Posted by: kathy | September 26, 2006 10:20 AM
I so want to go to the Outer Banks.
I loved reading these posts.
That sunset is beautiful.
I hope you are renewing, rejuvanting and revitalizing.
Posted by: Nancy | September 26, 2006 10:32 AM
The Amish women's reference made me smile. The pictures are wonderful.
Posted by: Karen | September 26, 2006 11:07 AM
I once learned to hang glide...sorta...on Jockey's Ridge. Amazing. Like flying.
Miss you Colleen. Talk soon.
Posted by: Mara | September 26, 2006 1:48 PM
As usual you painted me there with the words. I love the austerity of the situation and how mankind becomes a species of ants against mother nature. Did you keep the sand out of your camera.
Posted by: Tabor | September 26, 2006 3:53 PM
I snapped and then put it back in the case and then in a zippered part of my bag. Even so, I'm sure some granules got blown where they shouldn't be in my camera. It was such a photographic opportunity. It was hard to just pick a few to post here. As far as the guy running and yelling, I kept thinking he'd feel better if he would just take his shoes off!
Posted by: colleen | September 26, 2006 4:13 PM
Your final picture is amazing. I love the Outer Banks, too.
Posted by: Ginnie | September 26, 2006 5:09 PM
Wow...that photo looked almost like a moonscape.
Like you, I grew up on the Atlantic. Maybe it's getting older, but I love the lazy, gentle, softer waves and breeze of the Gulf.
And to entice you here even more....Cedar Key sunsets are THEE best on the west coast of Florida...at least we think so!
Posted by: Terri | September 26, 2006 6:14 PM
WOW what beautiful pictures......I never even knew a place like this existed.
You have been very lucky going to these places. I missed you on the link. xoxo
Posted by: Sherry | September 26, 2006 6:24 PM
This sounds so incredibly wonderful Colleen...Beautiful, Mysterious, a little Dangerous---well, maybe a LOT dangerous..(lol), and very very exciting!
What a fantastic trip you are having.
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | September 26, 2006 7:21 PM
I've been up there during the day, but not at sunset. That sounds like the perfect time!
Posted by: kenju | September 27, 2006 12:04 AM
Thanks for taking a writer who seems to be increasingly stuck in her office on such a wonderful journey!
Posted by: patry | September 27, 2006 12:09 AM
So differently beautiful from anything we have here in Canada. I saw some small Dunes in Quebec though.
Posted by: ruth | September 27, 2006 6:12 PM
Hope you are enjoying your vacation, a break from the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains to the beautiful Outer Banks. What is it about the sun setting that draws people? It seems to be more than just the beauty, you think?
Posted by: Susan | September 28, 2006 7:21 AM
A very lunar beach. I will e-mail you an old picture of me flying a kite there with Emily as a baby in my back pack--1990.
I love the shadow of Buz Aldrin in the picture of Neil at the top of this post.
Posted by: Rick | September 28, 2006 11:04 PM