after work adventures // ADVENTR.co

Return to the High Trail & Opal Hill

Canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness | Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Well, just like last year it appears that I’ve been slacking on my After Work Adventures again this spring, but part of the reason for that is the wet weather we had been having around here for a while. To remedy this situation I decided to head out after work this afternoon for a repeat hike of the High Trail in the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness since it’s one I’ve been wanting to get back to for a while now. During the day I almost cancelled the hike since the weather hadn’t been cooperating as it had been raining and snowing off and on, but as I was leaving work I checked the forecast one last time and thought it looked like it might finally be clearing up, so I decided to go for it. This turned out to be a good decision since the weather held out and it was a great evening for a local hike!

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The Gunnison River: Redlands Dam to Dos Rios Park

The Grand Junction of the Gunnison River and Colorado River | Estimated CFS: 460
Summer Solstice | Tuesday, June 21, 2022

After floating part of the Gunnison River from Whitewater to the Redlands Dam with Jackson a little over a week ago, we knew that we would have to come back with our packrafts to float the short section from the Redlands Dam down to the confluence with the Colorado River since it’s one of the remaining few sections below Pleasure Park that neither of us had done yet. After figuring out a date that our schedules aligned, we planned the short float for today after work on the Summer Solstice. Since we didn’t have too much time in the evening, this needed to be a short float, so we planned to take-out at Dos Rios Park just below the confluence at a spot that Jackson had scouted the previous weekend. We left from work, dropped Jackson’s car off at Dos Rios and then took my Jeep down to the Redlands Dam where we inflated our packrafts and got on the river.

Edna Mine & Devils Canyon Overlook

Canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness | Tuesday, April 19, 2022

I’ve really been slacking on my After Work Adventures for a while now and had really hoped to change that this spring, but so far I haven’t got out for one hike during the week this year. Well, that finally changed today when I left after work and headed back up into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness to search for the Edna Mine, which is an old Uranium mine found near the head of Devils Canyon that was active during the 1950’s and 1960’s. The temperature was into the low 80’s when I started hiking and the sky was pretty cloudy, but the strong winds helped keep me cool and the clouds started to open up a bit while I was exploring the mine, so it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon for a hike.

Lonesome Lips Arch & Horsethief Canyon Overlook

Canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness | Thursday, May 7, 2020

This evening I headed out after work again to continue my local arch hunting endeavors within the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness. I drove over Black Ridge for the second time this week, but this time I continued all the way to the Rattlesnake Arches Trailhead at the very end of the road. I had no intentions of visiting the popular arches in Rattlesnake Canyon this evening, instead, I was going to look for the lesser-known Lonesome Lips Arch which is located at the edge of a small mesa above a short unnamed canyon that is closer to the Colorado River. As I started descending the Rattlesnake Arches Trail I quickly spotted the arch I was looking for far below and headed that direction.

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The Search for Goblin Gulch

Canyons of the Black Ridge: Trailing the Ghosts and Gnomes of Goblin Gulch
Tuesday, May 5, 2020

When Will Minor started to hunt for a small band of strayed Angora goats he little dreamed he soon would have cause to forget them. As he entered a tiny canyon he suddenly came face to face with the weirdest collection of natural forms he ever had seen. The soft white sandstone of the canyon walls was covered with faces and figures—some animal, some human, some resembling modernistic sculpture and others like nightmarish creatures which only a writer of horror fiction could conceive.

– Desert Magazine, May 1944

Last week while I was going down the rabbit hole of searching online for more information about Will Minor and the High Trail, I came across an old magazine article that was written by him called Trailing the Ghosts and Gnomes of Goblin Gulch. This article was featured in the May, 1944 issue of Desert Magazine and was about a place he found many stone faces weathered from soft white sandstone just below Black Ridge that he called Goblin Gulch. I had never heard or seen anything about this location before, but the article and photos really piqued my interest and I knew I would have to try to find this forgotten place hidden within the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness!

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Tag: after work adventures

Return to the High Trail & Opal Hill

The Gunnison River: Redlands Dam to Dos Rios Park

Edna Mine & Devils Canyon Overlook

Lonesome Lips Arch & Horsethief Canyon Overlook

The Search for Goblin Gulch