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An Evening in the Monument

Monday, March 23, 2015

After work on Monday I headed up to the west side of the Colorado National Monument so I could scout a few sections of trail for a longer hike I have planned for this weekend. After hiking parts of the Fruita Dugway and Black Ridge Trail I stopped at Grand View to catch a spectacular sunset. Here are a few photos from my short evening outing.

Interesting clouds over the Grand Valley.

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Valley Clouds by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Hiking down the Fruita Dugway a few miles.

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Fruita Dugway Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The trail follows this sandstone ledge for a short distance.

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Walking the Edge by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I had to leave and re-enter the park boundary a few times on the trail.

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U.S. Boundary by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Following the Black Ridge Trail back down to my Jeep at the Visitor’s Center.

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Black Ridge Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Independence Monument with Mount Garfield in the spotlight.

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Independence Monument by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Great clouds above and golden light below.

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Independence Evening by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The Book Cliffs lit up over The Island.

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Book Cliffs Over The Island by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I even managed to catch a rainbow over the Kissing Couple.

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Monument Canyon Rainbow by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Beautiful conditions and light shortly before sunset.

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Grand View Sunset by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A shot of the dead tree near the Grand View overlook.

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Grand View Tree by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

One last shot of the big rainbow arcing over Monument Canyon. A great way to end the evening!

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Big Rainbow by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

>> An Evening in the Monument Photo Gallery

2 Comments

  1. Michael Hubrich
    Michael Hubrich March 27, 2015

    Fantastic Rainbow!

  2. Jody Grigg
    Jody Grigg March 31, 2015

    Sometimes you just get lucky, right spot at the right time. For as much as you seem to get out you definitely up the odds of having some dramatic weather. Great captures!

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