Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: book cliffs

Colorado National Monument TraverseColorado National Monument Traverse

Colorado National Monument Traverse

The Face of the Monument | West to East
Saturday, April 12, 2014

Years ago I had the idea of hiking across the face of the Colorado National Monument from one entrance to the other but never seemed to get around to planning the route and following through on the hike because I was usually heading elsewhere for my weekends. A few weeks ago I told Diane about this idea and she was interested in joining me, so I finally got determined to follow through and started planning the route. Much of the route follows existing trails that I have hiked many times in the past, but there were a few segments that I needed to check out and find a few connecting off-trail routes between them. Over the past few weeks I have gone out a few times after work and scouted these segments to come up with the complete route.

CONTINUE READINGColorado National Monument Traverse
3 Comments
Otto’s StaircaseOtto's Staircase

Otto’s Staircase

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

After work I decided to get a little hike in and explore a new area of the Colorado National Monument. I wanted to check out Otto’s Staircase above Gold Star Canyon and try to reach the top of Monument Mesa via this route. Please excuse my poor pictures in this trip report, when I set out after work to explore this new trail I didn’t really plan on taking any photos or even creating a trip report so I didn’t carry my camera with me. All of these photos were taken and processed on my iPhone. I ended up really enjoying this climb and taking a few photos with my iPhone so I wanted to share a them. I’m sure I will return to hike this trail again to do even more exploring on Monument Mesa. I will be sure to bring my better camera next time!

CONTINUE READINGOtto’s Staircase
Leave a Comment
Tour de Swell

Tour de Swell

Saturday & Sunday, March 29-30, 2014

I recently realized that I hadn’t been out to the San Rafael Swell in quite some time and felt it was time to get back again. Diane had never been to the Swell before so I thought it would be nice to give her an overview tour of the northern Swell this weekend. She would get to see some new sights and I would get to revisit and rephotograph some sites I have been to in the past. We left Grand Junction early on Saturday morning and made our way west through Green River before passing through the San Rafael Reef and climbing onto the San Rafael Swell.

CONTINUE READINGTour de Swell
Leave a Comment
Gold Star Canyon LoopGold Star Canyon Loop

Gold Star Canyon Loop

Thursday, March 27, 2014

After work this evening, Diane and I met up for another short hike in the Colorado National Monument. We started from the White Rocks trailhead and then hiked the steep trail beside Gold Star Canyon up onto the Precambrian Bench. We followed the trail towards Monument Canyon and then turned around when we reached Mushroom Rock. Next we followed a wash down into Monument Canyon and hiked back to White Rocks by circling around the Little Island. It was a nice evening hike. I don’t usually carry my camera on these short after-work hikes but the clouds in the sky were pretty nice from the passing storms so I decided to bring it with me. I’m glad I did!

CONTINUE READINGGold Star Canyon Loop
Leave a Comment
Canyon Rim TrailCanyon Rim Trail

Canyon Rim Trail

Monday, March 10, 2014

This evening Diane and I went on a short last-minute hike after work in the Colorado National Monument since the weather was so nice out. We ended up along the Canyon Rim Trail and enjoyed the views across Wedding Canyon as the sun sunk low in the sky behind a thin layer of clouds. Here’s a few photos I took along the way…

CONTINUE READINGCanyon Rim Trail
Leave a Comment