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Category: Touring

After Thanksgiving Swell Trip

San Rafael Swell Rock Art X
Black Friday & Saturday, November 23-24, 2012

After spending most of Thanksgiving Day at home it was time to get back out exploring again. Normally I take at least a few trips throughout the year to the San Rafael Swell, but I guess I was too preoccupied with the Paria Plateau this year since I still hadn’t made it out there. I decided it was time to at least make one trip out to the Swell this year, so that’s where I headed. I left well before sunrise on on Black Friday and was still surprised to see so many cars park at the mall that early as I drove out of town. I still can’t imagine getting up that early to try and get a deal among a large crowd of people, I’d rather spend my morning catching a sunrise in the desert. I spent the daylight hours of Friday and Saturday exploring, hiking and photographing rock art sites. I revisited a few sites and searched for some new ones. I spent the night at a hotel in Green River so I didn’t have to drive all the way back home on Friday night. Though many of the sites I visited were in the San Rafael Swell, I also made a side trip or two into the Book Cliffs and other areas outside the Swell. Here’s a few photos from my two days of exploring…

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The Paria Plateau

Saturday & Sunday, November 10-11, 2012

For a little over a year now I’ve been pretty obsessed with exploring and photographing the unusual and spectacular sandstone formations of The Paria Plateau. I’ve been to Coyote Buttes North five times, Coyote Buttes South two times, and the White Pocket three times and have come back with some nice images and had a lot of fun. There is just so much to see up there I could probably spend a lifetime exploring the area and not see it all. Unfortunately, I feel it’s time for me to take a little break from this area so I can concentrate on exploring some other areas on the Colorado Plateau for a while. This will probably be my last trip report from The Paria Plateau for a little while. Don’t get me wrong, I might head back down there once or twice next year, but I certainly won’t be driving down six or seven times like I’ve done this past year.

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Fall and Winter on the Grand Mesa

Fall Colors 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012

After work I decided to drive up on top of the Grand Mesa for a few hours to try and photograph some of the fall colors before it was too late. I was hoping to come back with a couple of photos, but instead I came back with a whole trip report! The colors were outstanding and the active weather provided a lot of interesting views throughout the evening. I even got caught in a snowstorm while on the very top, reminding me of the approaching winter.

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Taylor Lake to Hancock Lake

Friday – Sunday, August 17-19, 2012

I went to work on Friday with all my camping gear loaded in my Jeep, but no plans on where to go. I just knew I wanted to get up in the mountains for two nights, but not to the San Juan’s again. When I finally left work, I decided to make my way towards Aspen since I haven’t been that way for a while. As I was driving to Aspen I tried to think of any lakes that I could camp by to hopefully catch a good sunrise, and the only one I could think of was Taylor Lake, so that’s where I headed.

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