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Month: July 2024

The Colorado River: Palisade Rim to Riverbend ParkThe Colorado River: Palisade Rim to Riverbend Park

The Colorado River: Palisade Rim to Riverbend Park

After Work Adventures | Tuesday, July 9, 2024 | Average CFS: 3,860

This afternoon Jackson and I headed out after work to go for a short float with our packrafts on the Colorado River from the Palisade Rim Trailhead to the Riverbend Park in Palisade. As we get very close to floating all of the Colorado River from Glenwood Canyon to Lake Powell, this was one of the few remaining sections of the river left for both of us. The water level of the river has dropped quickly and significantly over the past week, so it was moving a little slower than our past couple of trips further upstream and we had to watch out for rocks just under the surface, but the entire float still took us less than an hour and we were home in time for dinner.

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The Rico Mountains: Five Years on the Calico TrailThe Rico Mountains: Five Years on the Calico Trail

The Rico Mountains: Five Years on the Calico Trail

Friday – Sunday, July 5-7, 2024

After Diane and I spent Independence Day backpacking in the Flat Tops Wilderness, we returned home early Friday afternoon so she could spend the rest of the weekend with a friend visiting from out of town. While at home I took some time to repack my Jeep for a solo trip and then headed south to spend the rest of the weekend in and around the Rico Mountains. Over the past four years I have been hiking to the summits of the peaks found along the Calico Trail, which follows the crest of the western Rico Mountains, and I only had one final named peak left- Landslip Mountain, which I panned to hike on Saturday morning.

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The Flat Tops: Mandall Lakes to Ptarmigan Flat TopThe Flat Tops: Mandall Lakes to Ptarmigan Flat Top

The Flat Tops: Mandall Lakes to Ptarmigan Flat Top

Independence Day | Thursday – Friday, July 4-5, 2024

This year Diane was off from work over the Forth of July and following weekend, but since she was having a friend from out of town visit over the weekend she had to be home by Friday afternoon. Still, we wanted to at least get out on a short backpacking trip and decided to go on an overnight hike up into the Mandall Lakes Basin at the eastern end of the Flat Tops Wilderness. We left from home early on Thursday morning and followed the Colorado River up and over to the headwaters of the Yampa River where we followed the Bear River to the trailhead located next to the Bear Lake Reservoir. After double-checking to make sure we had everything we needed, we shouldered our packs and started hiking up the Mandall Creek Trail just after 10:00am.

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Third Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Second ThoughtsThird Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Second Thoughts

Third Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Second Thoughts

After Work Adventures | Monday, July 1, 2024

I was originally planning to head up Lands End Road onto the Grand Mesa after work today so I could hike a section of the Palisade Plunge Trail, but as I was driving southeast on US 50 I saw some lightning in the direction I was headed and thought it would be best to turn around and come back another time when the weather was better. Instead, I returned to town and headed over to the Third Flats area of the Bangs Canyon Recreation Area where I hiked a short loop combining the Twist-N-Shout and Second Thoughts trails together. The temperature was in the low 90’s today, but it was cloudy enough with a nice breeze which helped keep the temperature comfortable enough for me. There were even a couple sprinkles of rain at times. Here are a couple photos from the short hike.

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