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Colorado National Monument Traverse II

The Monument from Top to Bottom | Black Ridge Loop
Saturday & Sunday, March 28-29, 2015

After completing a traverse across the face of the Colorado National Monument last year I decided that I wanted to put together a longer loop through the Monument to hike this year. The route I strung together begins at the Kodels Canyon trailhead outside of the Monument near Fruita and climbs up the historic Fruita Dugway trail where it connects with the Black Ridge Trail. The Black Ridge trail is the highest trail in the Colorado National Monument topping out at just over 6,700 feet. Since the trailhead is at about 4,700 feet, this route ascends over 2,000 feet of elevation gain while climbing from the lower part of the Monument to the higher part. After following the Black Ridge Trail to it’s end at the Upper Liberty Cap trailhead we would then follow the entire Liberty Cap trail back down to the Wildwood trailhead. Since this route is about 18 miles in length, I thought it would make a nice overnight backpacking trip so that we could take our time and spend a night in the Monument. I stopped by the Visitor’s Center on Friday and picked up a backcountry camping permit so that we could start the hike bright and early on Saturday morning.

An Evening in the Monument

Monday, March 23, 2015

After work on Monday I headed up to the west side of the Colorado National Monument so I could scout a few sections of trail for a longer hike I have planned for this weekend. After hiking parts of the Fruita Dugway and Black Ridge Trail I stopped at Grand View to catch a spectacular sunset. Here are a few photos from my short evening outing.

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Otto’s Bathtub

Easter | Sunday, April 20, 2014

My original plan for Easter Sunday was to hike and explore Sieber Canyon. Unfortunately, a road closed sign across Bs Road changed those plans when I tried to reach the trailhead first thing in the morning. With no backup plan I decided to drive over to the upper Liberty Cap trailhead, since it was not too far away, to finally hike to Otto’s Bathtub on Monument Mesa.

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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.