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Year: 2016

Canby Mountain & The La Plata Mountains

Sunday, October 2, 2016

I had set my alarm for 5:00am this morning, but when it went off I looked outside and didn’t see any clouds, so I went back to sleep since I was still pretty tired from the previous day. I ended up waking up again just after 6:00am and realized that I might have enough time to make it over to the Dallas Divide to catch the sunrise. I quickly got ready and was soon driving through Ridgway on my way to the divide. I reached the parking area just in time and found that it was a pretty popular place this morning. I parked my Jeep, got out and took a few quick photos and then left a few minutes later. I didn’t stick around very long, maybe 10-15 minutes at the most. There were just too many people for me and the conditions weren’t anything special this morning.

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Mount Bierstadt to Owl Creek Pass

Friday & Saturday, September 30 – October 1, 2016

I left right after work on Friday afternoon to begin my annual week-long October trip. Typically, I spend the entire week on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah or northern Arizona, but this year I decided to spend the first couple of days in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to try and make up for my lack of climbing mountains over the summer and maybe photograph some of the leftover fall colors. I wanted to try and get one more 14er in this year and Mount Bierstadt (14,060) in the Front Range sounded like a good easy option to start with. After leaving work I made my way over to Dillon for dinner and then finished the drive on I-70 to Georgetown where I followed the road up to Guanella Pass. I found a spot to camp and pretty much fell right asleep so I could get an early start the following morning.

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PT 5239 in Rabbit Valley

Saturday, September 24, 2016

I was originally planning this hike for Thursday after work, but the weather made me change my plans that day. Since we ended up staying close to home this weekend because of the weather, I decided to head back out to Rabbit Valley after the rain stopped late in the morning and hiked up to the summit of PT 5239. I’ve been trying to explore more of Rabbit Valley lately and this short summit away from the more popular trails looked like a good place to check out.

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Colorado National Monument Photos

Thursday, September 22, 2016

After work I grabbed my hiking gear and started heading out to Rabbit Valley so I could hike to another summit in Mesa County, but as I was driving west on I-70 I noticed the sky was much cloudier and darker out that direction and I was concerned about the weather I would encounter. It appeared that the edge of the storm system moving through the area was over Fruita and Grand Junction and it looked like I’d have better luck closer to town this evening. So when I reached the Fruita exit I decided to get off and head up into the Colorado National Monument instead. The clouds and sky were nice for a few photos during my drive through the western portion of the park, plus I still got a little hiking and exploring in. Here’s a few photos from the evening.

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Grand Mesa Fall Colors

Fall Colors | Wednesday, September 21, 2016

I made a last minute decision after work today and went for a drive up onto the Grand Mesa to check on the fall colors this evening. It turned out to be a good call since the colors were looking pretty good. I slowly made my way up the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway to Skyway Point and then explored the old Grand Mesa Road and a few other backroads in the area while I was up there until after sunset. There’s not really much else to say about this short evening excursion, so here’s a few photos that tell the story for me.

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