Recently, I was telling a friend the story of my adventure in the Great Sand Dunes National Park in 2005. I was backpacking alone, and I went far into the dunes one afternoon to camp. A storm came up that turned out to be far more severe than what was predicted to be an ordinary afternoon summer thunderstorm. I was unable to get my tent pitched, thunder rolled and the wind rose.
I decided to bail out, but by this time, the wind was whipping up the sand to such a degree that visibility was extremely low. This was dangerous — some dunes have a 100′ drop from the ridge where I walked, and contrary to popular belief, sand is not soft. I couldn’t afford to get lost, and I couldn’t afford to slip.
Luckily, I had my trusty walking stick flute with the compass on top. I covered up all exposed skin, feeling like Lawrence of Arabia, and set off with the flute as my guide. The wind moaning through the flute was my only company, but I made it out safely, all thanks to your flute!
Jan