Sunday, November 6, 2016
Back at the end of September I hiked part of the Jouflas Horse Trail to an overlook of Ruby Canyon after hiking to the nearby summit of PT 5239, but I was short on time that day and was unable to complete the entire loop. This afternoon Diane and I headed back to Rabbit Valley to finish hiking the Jouflas Horse Trail from the other side. We started at the McDonald Creek Trailhead and followed the trail to the Black Rocks Overlook (which is where I stopped in September) and then returned back the way we had come. It was a pretty easy hike and a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Before reaching the beginning of the Jouflas Horse Trail we had to hike down McDonald Creek a little way.
A little bit of leftover fall color in a shaded section of the canyon.
Diane stops for a break and to take in the views over McDonald Creek Canyon and the Colorado River. The mouth of Knowles Canyon is on the other side of the river, too. She is actually sitting on the edge just above the large alcove that we got engaged in just over a year ago.
Overlooking Ruby Canyon to Rabbits Ear Mesa from the Black Rocks Overlook at the end of our hike.
We didn’t see anyone camped down at Black Rocks this time.
Diane hikes ahead of me on our way back down to the trailhead.
View from the trail over the McDonald Creek area.
Since we passed by a rock art site in McDonald Creek, I had to stop for a photo or two even though I’ve been here many times before…
Since I was able to finish hiking the rest of the Jouflas Horse Trail today I’m including a map and GPS track of the entire trail below so you can check it out for yourself.