The shocking, burning cold was all too familiar. I had visited this spot a year before on another adventure, and this summer I took my sister to see the gorgeous Zapata Falls located near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, insisting that though hiking upstream would be cold, so cold it hurt, that it was worth it. What I didn't expect, however, were the number of people making their painstakingly slow way through the freezing stream to see the falls as well. Last year, Megan and I had had the falls almost all to ourselves. This year my sister and I had to wait our turn to get a closer look at the falls, attempting to stand on raised rocks so we didn't have to burn our feet and ankles while we waited. Zapata Falls was gorgeous, stunning, a cleft in the dark granite where Zapata Creek forced it's way through, barreling down the slick rocks and carving its way out of the almost cave-like canyon. But it was cold, almost to cold to stand, and after quick pictures we returned to dry ground as fast as we possibly could, inching past others lining up in the cold water to get a look at the falls too. I can't deny, I was relieved to get to the bank of the stream, warm my feet, and head back to the car.
Leave me a comment below and tell me about the coldest you (or any part of you) has ever been.
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