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Big Wash

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Recently I’ve been trying to get out on more hikes in the evening after work before the days start getting too short for that. Today I was looking for something close to home without too much elevation gain and settled on hiking up Big Wash which is located a short distance up Plateau Creek from I-70 along the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. Big Wash drains part of the west side of the Grand Mesa starting up near Chalk Mountain and joins Plateau Creek just upstream from the Colorado River. It turned out to be a nice easy canyon hike with a trickle of water flowing through the canyon. While the water was nice to listen to as I hiked, it made for some very slick mud. I had to hop across rocks through many parts of the canyon to avoid the slippery mud. There were a couple of easy obstacles to scramble up and bypass, I just had to make sure to avoid the poison ivy at one of the bypasses. The hike ended at an overhanging waterfall inside a large wet alcove. I didn’t see a way around it so I turned around and headed back down. Here are a few photos from the short hike.

Mount Lincoln

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

I see Mount Lincoln (No, not that Mount Lincoln!) almost every day since it stands above the Little Book Cliffs at the east end of the Grand Valley between Mount Garfield (6,765) and the Grand Mesa. It’s not very far from home and I have wanted to climb it for years, but for some reason I never seemed to get around to it. Last week I finally decided to give it a shot from the Stagecoach Trail in Palisade, but ended up changing my plans based on the weather that evening.

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Stagecoach Trail

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

To be honest, I didn’t really plan on hiking the Stagecoach Trail today. When I left my house after work this afternoon to go on a hike I had my sights set on visiting the summit of Mount Lincoln using a short section of the Stagecoach Trail for access. However, as I climbed the trail towards the top of the Little Book Cliffs, dark clouds developed and moved in over the Grand Valley along with a little rain and a few distant rumbles of thunder, so I decided it would probably be best to skip the summit this evening and finish the Stagecoach Trail loop instead. It turns out that the Stagecoach Trail is pretty fun and offers some nice views of the Little Book Cliffs, Mount Garfield and the surrounding valley. I’ll have to return another day for Mount Lincoln!

Mount Garfield Attempt

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

It’s been a few years since I’ve hiked to the summit of Mount Garfield in the Little Book Cliffs, so I thought it would be a good idea to head up there after work today and revisit for sunset. Unfortunately, as I reached the second bench before the final climb to the top, a big storm came across the valley and I decided it was time to head back down. Not only was there a lot of lightning, I was also concerned about hiking back down the steep clay if it got wet since that stuff can get really slippery. It was a good decision because once I reached my Jeep at the trailhead the sky let loose and the rain came down hard. In the end I hiked about two miles round trip and climbed about 1,200 feet, which isn’t a bad workout. I’ll have to try again soon. Here are a few photos from the short hike.

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Palisade Rim Trail

Saturday, January 10, 2015

This morning Diane and I went on a nice loop hike on the Palisade Rim Trail at the base of the Grand Mesa in the Grand Valley. It’s been about four years since I have been on this trail and I have wanted to get back and hike it again with Diane, especially since the last time I was here the trail has been improved and rerouted. It was mostly cloudy and overcast this morning with temperatures hovering around freezing, but there were some nice textures in the clouds and some light did manage to sneak through. All in all, it was a nice short hike close to home.