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Tag: jumbo reservoir

Fall Colors on the Grand Mesa

After Work Adventures | Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Hard to believe, but I recently realized that it’s been five years since I last headed up onto the Grand Mesa to check out the Fall Colors, which was something I used to do almost every year at the end of September. With that in mind, even though I knew the autumn colors seemed to be running a bit behind this year, I decided to head up onto the Grand Mesa after work today for a short evening visit since it would be my only opportunity this week. Unfortunately, there was also a prescribed burn happening on the Uncompahgre Plateau near Gateway today, so there was a lot of smoke in the air and conditions weren’t ideal for photography, but here are a few of the photos I took this evening.

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Mesa Lakes Snowshoeing

Sunday, January 4, 2015

After our trip to northern Arizona earlier in the week, we were looking forward to spending a lazy weekend relaxing at home, but we still felt the need to get outside for some snowshoeing on Sunday. We decided to drive up to Mesa Lakes on the Grand Mesa for a short loop on packed trails. We started following the West Bench Trail past Sunset Lake, then followed Mesa Creek back past the Ranger Station and circled around Sunset Lake to Beaver Lake before returning to the trailhead on the other side of Jumbo Reservoir. It was a nice short loop that got us outside into the snow for a little while.

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Snowshoeing the West Bench Trail

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My first official trip report of 2011. Amanda had to work in Avon, so I headed up on the Grand Mesa to get in my first snowshoe trip of the season. There was an inversion in the Grand Valley, so it was nice to get up above the haze and into some warmer temperatures, too! When I started driving up onto the Grand Mesa I wasn’t sure which trail I was going to explore, but when I got up there I decided to head out on the West Bench Trail for a few miles. I ended up snowshoeing about 4.3 miles which isn’t too bad for my first trip of the season. It was definitely a good workout! The conditions on the Mesa were great and it was a beautiful day.

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