Dominguez Canyon Wilderness | Sunday, June 18, 2023
After spending Saturday floating through The Chute of Muddy Creek, I was originally planning to spend Sunday morning hiking in the Raggeds Wilderness of the Elk Mountains. However, once I realized that Colorado Highway 133 was still closed before Somerset and didn’t feel like driving the long way around, I cancelled those plans. Instead, I decided to stay closer to home and went for a morning hike to the summit of Triangle Mesa in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness.
I woke up early on Sunday morning and made my way over to the southern end of Cactus Park at sunrise to start the hike.
Cactus Park Road
Once I reached the Cactus Park Trailhead I started hiking into the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness.
The trail followed the southern edge of Triangle Canyon as the canyon grew deeper.
When I reached the ridge separating Triangle Canyon from Big Dominguez Canyon, I walked over to the Big Dominguez Canyon Overlook for a hazy view into the lower part of the canyon.
Big Dominguez Canyon Overlook
As I followed the ridge between the two canyons I had good views into both of them along the way.
Here’s a hazy view over lower Triangle Canyon to the Grand Mesa on the horizon.
I was hoping to climb right up Triangle Mesa from the west side, but it was a little too steep and loose for me, so I hiked around to the east side and found an easier way up.
A little arch I stumbled across as I looked for a route up Triangle Mesa.
As I climbed to the top I had a nice view over upper Big Dominguez Canyon.
The view from the summit of Triangle Mesa wasn’t too bad, either.
The Dry Fork of Big Dominguez Canyon
Following the trail along the narrowest part of the ridge between the two canyons on my way back.
Cactus Flower
Here’s one final view over lower Triangle Canyon as I made my way back to the trailhead.
I’m glad I had started this hike early since it was getting pretty warm out during my hike back to the trailhead. Plus, the cedar gnats and deerflies were out and starting to bother me whenever I stopped moving. I think this is probably going to be my final desert hike of the season until things start cooling off again in the fall. Now it’s time to start getting back into the mountains!
Beutiful photos