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Tag: north fork of the gunnison river

Gunnison Gorge: Smith Mountain Jeep RoadGunnison Gorge: Smith Mountain Jeep Road

Gunnison Gorge: Smith Mountain Jeep Road

After Work Adventures | Friday, June 14, 2024

This weekend I was going to be staying close to home so I could spend a little time on the Colorado River, but since a cold font had come through the area and dropped temperatures significantly for the day, I thought it would be a good idea to head over to the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area after work so I could go for a scenic drive on the Smith Mountain Jeep Road and hike to a couple of highpoints along the way. After leaving work on Friday afternoon I drove over to Delta, grabbed dinner in town and then headed over to the Smith Mountain Saddle Trailhead where I started driving up to the top of the ridge above the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. As I was making my way up the mountain a fast-moving storm storm moved across the valley from the Uncompahgre Plateau and quickly dropped the temperature another 15 degrees as the wind picked up.

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Memorial Day Weekend Along the Black CanyonMemorial Day Weekend Along the Black Canyon

Memorial Day Weekend Along the Black Canyon

Memorial Day Weekend | Friday – Sunday, May 24-26, 2024

This Memorial Day Weekend I decided to stay a little closer to home so I could spend some time along the Gunnison River in both the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Since it’s getting to be that time of the year when the desert is starting to get a little too warm for me and there is still too much snow up in the high country, luckily this area along the rim of the Black Canyon is in-between and usually just right at this time of the year.

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North Fork of the Gunnison RiverNorth Fork of the Gunnison River

North Fork of the Gunnison River

Paonia River Park to the Gunnison Forks Recreation Site
Independence Day | Thursday, July 4, 2019

This year for the Fourth of July I was looking to go on one last river trip before I started heading into the mountains for the summer season. Since I only had one day off from work for the holiday I wanted to go somewhere close to home and on a river that was still not running too high, which was hard to find this year! On Wednesday afternoon Jackson, Chris and I decided that we would give the North Fork of the Gunnison River a try from the Paonia River Park to its confluence with the Gunnison River. The North Fork of the Gunnison is formed just below the Paonia Reservoir by the confluence of of Muddy Creek (not that Muddy Creek) and Anthracite Creek, which originates in The Raggeds of the West Elk Mountains. Since we have already floated most of the Gunnison River from Pleasure Park to Whitewater, we thought it would be nice to work our way further up the North Fork and finally check it out.

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West Maroon Pass & Geneva LakeWest Maroon Pass & Geneva Lake

West Maroon Pass & Geneva Lake

Saturday & Sunday, August 9-10, 2014

Since Diane and I have been spending a lot of time this summer hiking in the San Juan Mountains I figured it was time to get in a weekend of hiking in the Elk Mountains, before it was too late. We left home bright and early on Saturday morning and drove around the Grand Mesa to Marble where we followed the Crystal River past the Crystal Mill and Devil’s Punchbowl towards Schofield Pass. Diane was not a fan of this narrow and rough road, especially when we drove over the sections of large moving rocks. We stopped at the trailhead in Schofield Park so we could start our hike up to West Maroon Pass. Unfortunately, driving over Schofield Pass took a little longer than I remembered, so we arrived later in the morning than I would normally like to start hiking during monsoon season in the mountains. Since we weren’t attempting to climb any peaks on this hike we decided to give it a shot and see what the weather would do. Some darker clouds moved into the sky early on during our hike and we got rained on a few times, but there were no thunderstorms nearby. While there were still plenty of flowers along it trail, it was obvious that wildflower season is definitely coming to and end as many of the flowers were wilted and dying. I bet this hike would have been an amazing sight a few weeks ago!

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Archaeology on the Gunnison RiverArchaeology on the Gunnison River

Archaeology on the Gunnison River

Sunday, August 28, 2011

On Sunday I met up with my friend Jackson and his wife Sarah to float a section of the Gunnison River from the North Fork to Colorado Highway 65 near Delta. It’s a pretty easy stretch of the river, which is a good thing since this was my first time in my own boat. Previously I have only ridden along in a larger raft, so this was a good learning experience for me. There were a few tricky sections that helped me work on my boating skills, but nothing dangerous.

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