Sunday, December 22, 2013
It has been a little while since I’d gone hiking with Marty, so we made plans to do a local hike on Sunday morning. It has been about a year since I last hiked up Big Dominguez Canyon, so I thought it would be a good time to return. I always seem to hike this trail around Christmas each year…maybe it will become a tradition? Marty had never been up this canyon and was looking forward to checking it out. The temperature was pretty cold when we started our hike from Bridgeport around 9:00am, but as the sun got higher in the sky we started shedding layers and it turned out to be a nice day for a hike.
It was a beautiful and cold morning hiking along the Gunnison River.
Crossing the bridge over river.
Beautiful views all around in Big Dominguez Canyon.
We hiked up the canyon until we reached the main petroglyphs found here. This is usually my turnaround point on a day-hike in this canyon.
As we climbed up to the base of the cliff to visit another panel of petroglyphs, this bighorn sheep appeared above us. He cautiously watched us and I snapped a few photos.
When he finally decided to move on, I got this shot of him jumping over a gap in the rock.
Another great view from up here.
Marty took this photo of me up by the high panel.
Some nice clouds moved in as we started hiking back down the canyon.
Looking down the icy Gunnison River towards the pedestrian bridge.
This train carrying coal passed us as we neared Bridgeport.
Hiking back to the trailhead along the railroad tracks.
I loved the pictures of the bighorn sheep!