Flowing Park to Point Peninsula
Sunday, August 4, 2019
After spending Saturday morning hiking to the summit of Red Mountain #2 and then going to a concert in the evening, we slept in a little later on Sunday morning before heading out for the day. It has been a while since we have gone on a mountain bike ride, so we decided to head up onto the Grand Mesa for a few hours with our bikes. After looking at a map we decided to give the Flowing Park Trail a try since it looked like there wouldn’t be too much elevation gain and that it would follow along the rim of the Grand Mesa for a while offering us distant views of the surrounding landscape. While I had hoped to ride the full loop when we started, we ended up turning around when we reached Point Peninsula and returning the way we had come. Even though we didn’t ride the entire loop, I do believe this was still our longest mountain bike ride ever, so there’s that. During the last few miles of the ride back to the trailhead we got caught in a storm and were soaked by the time we arrived back at my Jeep. It was a good time!
A view of the Flowing Park Reservoir from the trailhead.
Diane riding across the top of the Grand Mesa, which is considered the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.
We left the Indian Park Trail and followed the Flowing Park Trail at this intersection.
Riding through a field of wildflowers. It turned out to be a real ‘wildflower ride!’
Riding along the rim of the Grand Mesa offered us plenty of far-reaching views.
We hiked out to the rocky tip of Point Peninsula and had a snack while we enjoyed the view.
Looking west from Point Peninsula over to the Uncompahgre Plateau and Big Dominguez Canyon with the La Sal Mountains barely visible on the horizon.
Spotlight on the rim of the Grand Mesa with storm clouds moving in. We heard a few rumbles of thunder while we were at the point and knew it was probably time we started heading back.
Following the trail back along the rim.
The wildflowers were abundant along the trail, so I stopped for a closer look.
Diane enters a grove of aspen trees ahead of me.
During our ride back the clouds grew darker and filled the sky.
Back to the Flowing Park Loop intersection just before it started to rain.
We rode through a rainstorm during the last few miles back to the trailhead and got soaked!
When we reached my Jeep it started to rain even harder than it had been.
