little book cliffs // ADVENTR.co

Mount Lincoln

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

I see Mount Lincoln (No, not that Mount Lincoln!) almost every day since it stands above the Little Book Cliffs at the east end of the Grand Valley between Mount Garfield (6,765) and the Grand Mesa. It’s not very far from home and I have wanted to climb it for years, but for some reason I never seemed to get around to it. Last week I finally decided to give it a shot from the Stagecoach Trail in Palisade, but ended up changing my plans based on the weather that evening.

1 Comment

Stagecoach Trail

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

To be honest, I didn’t really plan on hiking the Stagecoach Trail today. When I left my house after work this afternoon to go on a hike I had my sights set on visiting the summit of Mount Lincoln using a short section of the Stagecoach Trail for access. However, as I climbed the trail towards the top of the Little Book Cliffs, dark clouds developed and moved in over the Grand Valley along with a little rain and a few distant rumbles of thunder, so I decided it would probably be best to skip the summit this evening and finish the Stagecoach Trail loop instead. It turns out that the Stagecoach Trail is pretty fun and offers some nice views of the Little Book Cliffs, Mount Garfield and the surrounding valley. I’ll have to return another day for Mount Lincoln!

Fresh Snow & Fog at the Colorado National Monument

Colorado National Monument | Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Visiting the Colorado National Monument in the winter with a fresh coat of snow and canyons filled with fog is a magical experience that doesn’t happen too often. But that’s exactly what I woke up to this morning! I took a detour on my way to work so I could spend a little time photographing the sunrise in these conditions and I’m glad that I did since it turned out to be one of the more spectacular sunrises I’ve witnessed in the Monument. Enjoy the photos!

Fallen Rock Fall Colors

Monday, November 2, 2015

After returning home from Denver this afternoon, I decided to drive up to the Colorado National Monument about an hour before sunset to see if the cottonwoods in upper Ute Canyon had changed colors yet. I had checked on them a few times over the past two weeks and found them to be mostly green, but this time many of them had changed to a nice golden yellow. After taking a quick hike over to Suction Point, I watched the sun set from near the Fallen Rock Overlook and took a few photos after the sun was down. On my way back down from the overlook I also stopped for a quick photo over Red Canyon towards the city lights of Grand Junction in the distance.

Mount Garfield Attempt

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

It’s been a few years since I’ve hiked to the summit of Mount Garfield in the Little Book Cliffs, so I thought it would be a good idea to head up there after work today and revisit for sunset. Unfortunately, as I reached the second bench before the final climb to the top, a big storm came across the valley and I decided it was time to head back down. Not only was there a lot of lightning, I was also concerned about hiking back down the steep clay if it got wet since that stuff can get really slippery. It was a good decision because once I reached my Jeep at the trailhead the sky let loose and the rain came down hard. In the end I hiked about two miles round trip and climbed about 1,200 feet, which isn’t a bad workout. I’ll have to try again soon. Here are a few photos from the short hike.

2 Comments

Tag: little book cliffs

Mount Lincoln

Stagecoach Trail

Fresh Snow & Fog at the Colorado National Monument

Fallen Rock Fall Colors

Mount Garfield Attempt