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Tag: black ridge canyons wilderness

Mee Canyon Alcove

Mee Canyon Alcove

Saturday, May 10, 2014

This morning Diane and I woke up early and drove up through the Colorado National Monument to reach the Black Ridge Road which we took to the Mee Canyon trailhead. I have wanted to hike to the very large Mee Canyon Alcove for a few years now and it was finally time to do it. The weather forecast was calling for storms in the afternoon, so we got an early start in order to get out of there before the rain moved in since the clay that makes up part of the road can get a very slippery when wet, and I really didn’t want to have to deal with that on the way back down.

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Flume Creek CanyonFlume Creek Canyon

Flume Creek Canyon

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Since I never made it to Flume Creek Canyon yesterday, Diane and I decided to hike it this afternoon together. I wasn’t expecting too much from this hike, but it turned out to be a really beautiful and fun hike. Had we only stayed on the main trail it would have been just another desert hike, but since we decided to get off the main trail and hike in the bottom of the canyon it was much more enjoyable. Getting off the main trail and into the bottom of the wash was a great choice because there were some cool narrows to hike though and the canyon eventually boxed up at the end under an impressive dry waterfall. Once we reached the end we had to backtrack a little way, but then we had fun climbing up a steep route out of the canyon to join up with the main trail again.

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Pollock BenchPollock Bench

Pollock Bench

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Since the weather was bad all over the Colorado Plateau on Saturday I decided to stick around home this weekend. I did manage to get outside on Sunday after the weather cleared up for a hike on the Pollock Bench trail to the Window Rock Tower. This is the main trail that leads to the Rattlesnake Canyon arches, if you don’t have a high clearance vehicle to reach the upper trailhead. Since I have always visited the arches from the upper trailhead, I thought it would be nice to check out this alternate route that I have always bypassed. I also wanted to check out the Window Rock Tower, which is where I turned around on this hike.

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Ruby – Horsethief CanyonsRuby - Horsethief Canyons

Ruby – Horsethief Canyons

Friday – Sunday, August 24-26, 2012

After work on Friday I met Jackson at the Westwater exit on I-70, after the slower than usual drive through two construction zones, so that we could drop his car off at the Westwater takeout along the Colorado River. Our plan this weekend was to float through the Ruby – Horsethief Canyons section of the Colorado River from Loma to Westwater. This was going to be my very first overnight river trip and I had been looking forward to it for a while. Thanks to all my new backpacking gear bought earlier this year, packing the inflatable kayak was much easier, even though I decided to bring along a bigger tent this trip. This section of the Colorado is about 25 miles in length and is pretty mild, but it flows through some beautiful sandstone canyons. Once Jackson’s car was parked in the Westwater parking lot we took my Jeep back to the Loma boat ramp and got our inflatable kayaks ready for the trip. As I suspected, we had the launch site to ourselves on a Friday evening at about 5:30pm.

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Rattlesnake Canyon ArchesRattlesnake Canyon Arches

Rattlesnake Canyon Arches

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

It’s been awhile since I’ve hiked to the arches in Rattlesnake Canyon and I have wanted to return again so that I could try and get some better photos of them. I figured that sunset would probably be the best time to go, and that I should have plenty of time to reach them after work before the sun went down. Last week I had originally planned on hiking to them after work on two separate occasions, but as I left work on those days the sky was completely overcast which wouldn’t have made for any good photos, so I cancelled the hike. Finally on Tuesday the conditions were looking good, so I grabbed a quick dinner and drove to the upper trailhead after work. I actually arrived in about an hour, which was quicker than I thought it would take. I got on my pack and started hiking into the canyon. There was no one else around and I would not see anyone else all evening…I had the place to myself. It’s great to be able to get to places like this not far from home to enjoy some solitude in the middle of the week.

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