Colorado National Monument | Sunday, September 14, 2025
This weekend Diane wanted to hike the Wedding Canyon Loop in the Colorado National Monument with me on Sunday morning since we might not be able to hike together again for a little while, so I planned to stay close to home so we could do that. Although I was originally planning to spend Saturday morning hiking in the mountains near Ouray, the weather forecast wasn’t looking good and I changed my mind after work on Friday and decided to just stay home and work on my 4Runner instead. This was probably the right call since there was a lot of rain, flash-flooding and even a few rare tornadoes in the Four Corners region and Western Colorado on Saturday! On Sunday morning we got up early, left home at dawn and started hiking from the Lower Monument Canyon Trailhead just before sunrise. To our surprise, as we crossed over the low divide between Monument Canyon and Wedding Canyon we found that the valley on the other side was filled with fog which made for some amazing and beautiful conditions as we hiked into Wedding Canyon. These are some photos from our morning hike in the Monument!
Early morning sunlight lights up the Face of the Monument as we reached the junction with the Wedding Canyon Trail.
As we neared the top of the divide on our way to Wedding Canyon we noticed that there was fog filling up the valley on the other side, which was a very nice surprise!
Grand Valley Fog at Sunrise
Foggy Layers
Once we reached the edge of the low divide I looked down onto the fog below us and saw a faded Brocken Spectre. It’s been over five years since I saw my last Brocken Spectre, so I was happy to finally see another!
Diane takes in the view at the divide.
Now we are ready to start hiking down into the fog.
Looking back to the divide.
Following the trail into the fog…
I just love hiking in conditions like these!
As we neared the mouth of Wedding Canyon we spotted a fog bow above the trail ahead of us.
Hiking into the fog in Wedding Canyon.
Wedding Canyon Trail
Lower Wedding Canyon
Sentinel Spire
It was fun watching the fog advance into the canyon and then recede away- like waves in the ocean, only much slower.
Wave of Fog
As we hiked higher into the canyon and got above the fog, we watched the fog engulf this spire on the other side of the canyon.
When we neared the top of the canyon we got our first view of Independence Monument.
Window Rock
Here’s one final look down Wedding Canyon before we rounded The Island and started our descent into lower Monument Canyon where there was no fog to be found.
Independence Monument
Looking up at the western tip of The Island.
Independence Monument View
Diane leads the way into lower Monument Canyon.
Lower Monument Canyon
That fog bow was super cool, glad you two got to see that on what looked like a great hike. I’ve never even heard of them before, so now I’ve got something to keep an eye out for in the future!