Crowds down slightly at Imperial Sand Dunes

Wind and stormy weather in California may have kept the crowds down a little at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area this year, but the big holiday weekend still started off with thousands of duners, a lot of fun and a few minor accidents.

Emergency response personnel were on hand at the dunes to treat injuries, such as broken bones, suffered by riders.

Law enforcement will continue to monitor duning activity throughout the weekend.

Andrew Constanza comes to the dunes with his son, Francis. They run a welding repair stand, taking care of vehicle problems on sandrails, all-terrain vehicles and the various other toys duners bring with them.

"It seems like there's a little bit less (people) right now," Constanza said.

Sarah Edwards, who has been coming to the dunes from Apache Junction for two years, agreed.

"It's busy but it's not as busy as I thought it was going to be," she said.

But the lull was a mild one. The weather in the dunes themselves was clear Saturday and the area still drew thousands who wanted to get in all the fun they could on the last big weekend of the duning season.

Christine Collier didn't notice any lull in activity, since it was only her second time at the dunes. She said she'd gotten into it because of some friends but was really starting to enjoy it.

"I like it a lot. It's very fun. Just the atmosphere, hanging out with everybody and partying," Collier said.

---

Sarah Reynolds can be reached at sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.