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Tag: book cliffs

Short Walks from Rim Rock DriveShort Walks from Rim Rock Drive

Short Walks from Rim Rock Drive

Heart of the World | Wednesday, February 26, 2025

When I left from work this afternoon the clouds over the Grand Valley were looking nice so I made a last minute decision to head up into the Colorado National Monument so I could take some photos from the overlooks and continue working on my Heart of the World project. After driving to Fruita I looped back to Grand Junction via Rim Rock Drive through the park and went for a few walks on short trails from the road including Otto’s Trail, the Coke Ovens Trail and the Ute Garden Interpretive Trail. It was a nice way to spend a couple hours after work as the days continue to get longer.

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Rock Art of Nine Mile Canyon 2025Nine Mile Canyon 2025

Rock Art of Nine Mile Canyon 2025

Saturday & Sunday, February 8-9, 2025

Although we were hoping to make it back into Nine Mile Canyon late last year, that never ended up happening so I figured it would be nice to get back into the canyon early this year and made plans for a weekend visit just a couple of days before my birthday. At least we didn’t wait another five years to return like the last time! Even though the week leading up to this trip had been unseasonably warm across the Colorado Plateau, a cold front had finally passed through the region on Friday night and dropped temperatures back to normal for this time of the year, and we saw early morning temperatures get down into the teens and single digits, but daytime temperatures were comfortable in the 40’s. Diane and I left home early on Saturday morning and then we spent most of the weekend searching for new petroglyphs in Nine Mile Canyon while also stopping to revisit sites we’ve been to before along the way. Here are some photos from our weekend exploring the world’s longest art gallery.

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Third Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Rocky StumbleThird Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Rocky Stumble

Third Flats: Twist-N-Shout & Rocky Stumble

After Work Adventures | Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Since we’ve had a bit of a warm spell this week with temperatures reaching into the mid and upper 60’s I thought this would be a good day to head out on my first local hike after work of the year. After leaving work I drove up to the Third Flats Road in the Bangs Canyon Recreation Area to hike a loop consisting of the Nut-N-2-It, Twist-N-Shout and Rocky Stumble trails with a little detour onto the Short Shot trail. Once I reached the end of Rocky Stumble I followed the Third Flats Road back to my Jeep to make a nice little four mile loop. I’m looking forward to more After Work Adventures this year as the days continue to get longer. Here are a few photos from the short hike.

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Rock Art of the Book Cliffs XRock Art of the Book Cliffs X

Rock Art of the Book Cliffs X

Saturday & Sunday, January 4-5, 2025

I wanted to start the year off right on the first weekend of 2025, so I met up with a friend on Saturday morning and we spent the rest of the weekend together hiking in canyons that carved through the Book Cliffs in search of petroglyphs and pictographs. We found a lot of new rock art along the way and even stopped to revisit a couple sites that I hadn’t been back to in almost fifteen years which were nice to see again. While Saturday was mostly overcast all day with a couple of short-lived snow showers in the late morning and Sunday was completely clear and sunny, the cool temperatures throughout the weekend were great for hiking in. Here are some photos of the rock art we saw this weekend.

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Saddlehorn Trails at the Colorado National MonumentSaddlehorn Trails at the Colorado National Monument

Saddlehorn Trails at the Colorado National Monument

Heart of the World | Wednesday, January 1, 2025

This year for New Year’s Day I actually decided to go in to work instead of heading out to the local backcountry for just a day trip in the middle of the week since I have a busy spring coming up and need to conserve some of my PTO for then. But after spending a day alone in the office and getting a lot done I still wanted to get out for my first hike of 2025, so after leaving work I headed up into the Colorado National Monument to start working on my Heart of the World project by hiking some of the shorter trails located around Saddlehorn and the Visitor Center. Once I arrived at the parking lot for the Visitor Center I followed the Canyon Rim Trail to the Book Cliffs Shelter and then continued on the Window Rock Trail to the campground. I then made a short detour to the top of Saddlehorn before returning to the trailhead and hiking the Alcove Nature Trail. It was a nice way to spend a couple hours after work and get in my first hike of the year!

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