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Tag: roan cliffs

Return to Range Creek CanyonReturn to Range Creek Canyon

Return to Range Creek Canyon

Friday – Sunday, November 15-17, 2019

I’ve wanted to return to Range Creek ever since my first visit at the end of the season in 2013, and since Diane had never been there before we decided that it was finally time to head back this year. So back in August I secured a pair of permits for this Saturday and hoped that the weather would cooperate and not close the road into the canyon before our visit. We left after work on Friday and drove to the north entrance gate of the property in Range Creek Canyon where we set up camp so we would be able to get started hiking early in the morning. After a good night of sleep we woke up on Saturday morning to a brisk 29 degree temperature and clear blue sky above. Although it was a bit cold in the morning the temperature would warm up nicely during the day and it was very pleasant hiking weather.

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Corcoran PeakCorcoran Peak

Corcoran Peak

Friday & Sunday, September 15 & 17, 2017

After hiking to the summit of Corcoran Point from the Tellerico Trail in the Book Cliffs two years ago, I got a nice view of Corcoran Peak (8,076) and thought it would be a good peak close to home to try climbing another time. Since we were staying around home this weekend to go to a concert on Saturday, I thought it would be a good idea to head out to the Little Book Cliffs after work on Friday, catch the sunset, spend the night and then climb Corcoran Peak on Saturday morning before going to the concert. The plan was going well until after sunset when it started to rain pretty heavily. This is not an area you want to be in when the roads get wet, so I ended up heading home instead of camping and then returning late Sunday morning to try the climb again.

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Rifle ArchRifle Arch

Rifle Arch

Saturday, December 3, 2016

To be honest, our goal for the day was not really to hike to Rifle Arch. Recently, I had learned about a pizza place in New Castle called Hogback Pizza that was supposed to have a good Chicago Style Stuffed Pizza. Since I left the Chicago area I have not been able to find a good stuffed pizza in Colorado and I wanted to see just how good theirs really was. (It turned out to be the best stuffed pizza I have found outside of the Chicago area.) However, I did not want to drive to New Castle just to try some pizza, so I figured we’d find a short hike we could do on our way there and we settled on hiking to Rifle Arch. It was a short 3 mile round-trip hike to the arch but it was much colder outside than we expected it to be and there was a thin layer of snow on the ground. Even though the sky was overcast and I wasn’t able to get any decent photos, it still was a large and impressive arch. I will definitely have to return another day with better photographic conditions.

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Warrior Ridge in Nine Mile CanyonWarrior Ridge

Warrior Ridge in Nine Mile Canyon

Saturday, May 21, 2016

On our way to spend a long weekend in Salt Lake City so we could attend a concert on Sunday night (that was sadly cancelled), Diane and I met up with our friends Dennis and Alan to explore the rock art of Warrior Ridge in Nine Mile Canyon. I had contacted Dennis a few weeks earlier to see if he was interested in visiting Warrior Ridge and Alan was able to secure permission to cross the private property so we could get access to the ridge. We met up in Wellington on Saturday morning and then drove into Nine Mile Canyon to begin the hike. The drive from Grand Junction to Wellington had been very windy, but once we were in Nine Mile Canyon the wind didn’t seem to be quite as bad.

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Kokopelli Loops: Steve’s LoopSteve's Loop

Kokopelli Loops: Steve’s Loop

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

After hiking Mack Ridge on Sunday I’ve been motivated to continue hiking the rest of the trails in the Kokopelli Trail System near Loma that I have not been on before. With the weather being nice this week and days getting longer I decided to try and squeeze in a short loop after work today. After looking at a map I settled on Steve’s Loop since it looked like it would offer great views over the Colorado River near sunset and would be short enough to complete before it got dark out.

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