// Adventures and Photography from the Colorado Plateau, Rocky Mountains & Beyond
Sunday, December 14, 2014
After spending a rare lazy Saturday at home, I saw there was a little fog hanging around the canyons of the Colorado National Monument this morning and decided to drive up there to take a few photos. I wasn’t able to go very far since the Monument had closed Rim Rock Drive at the Independence Monument Viewpoint, so most of my photos were from that area.
Leave a CommentFall Colors 2014
Saturday & Sunday, September 20-21, 2014
On Saturday, Diane and I headed back down to the San Juan Mountains again so we could climb to the top of Courthouse Mountain in the Cimarron’s . While this mountain is short compared to the surrounding peaks in the area at only 12,152 feet, it is uniquely shaped and has over 1,000 feet of vertical prominence. It’s also a very distinguishable peak near Owl Creek Pass that is often photographed, especially in the fall when the surrounding mountainsides are changing colors. I have seen this mountain in the skyline for many years when I would drive to Ouray and Silverton, and decided it was finally time to climb to the top a few weeks ago when I had a different view of it during our hike into Wetterhorn Basin. While there were afternoon storms predicted after 3:00pm today, we didn’t need to get too early of a start for this hike since it’s a relatively short trail, clocking in at just under 2 miles, but it climbs almost 2,000 feet of elevation in that short distance.
Leave a CommentTuesday & Wednesday, July 29-30, 2014
The Decalibron is a name given to a route in the Mosquito Range that allows you to summit four of Colorado’s 58 named 14ers in one 7-mile loop; Mount Democrat (14,148 feet), Mount Cameron (14,238 feet), Mount Lincoln (14,286 feet) and Mount Bross (14,172 feet). Some people do not count Mount Cameron as an official 14er because it is not ranked (the saddle between Cameron and Lincoln does not drop below the 300 feet required), but I have decided that I am going to try and complete the list of named 14ers and am going to count it (why short myself some Colorado high points?). Since my goal for the year is to summit five 14ers, I figured that this hike would be a good way to reach that goal after hiking Huron Peak a few weeks ago. Since this route is very popular and closer to the Front Range (Denver area), it can be very busy on the weekends. I decided to avoid the crowds by taking a day off from work in the middle of the week to attempt this hike.
Leave a CommentSaturday, June 14, 2014
The desert has been heating up recently and I’ve been looking to start getting up into the mountains soon. The first reports of roads opening up in the San Juan Mountains have been coming in, so I decided to head up towards Silverton and Ouray to see just how fast the snow was melting this year so I could start planning some mountain hiking trips. Much of Colorado’s high country got a lot of snow this year, so trails and roads are opening up later than they typically would. There is still a lot of snow up in the mountains, but it appears to be melting fast.
4 CommentsSunday, April 13, 2014
My original plan for the day was to hike the Fruita Dugway trail first thing in the morning. I woke up early and was out the door well before the sun came up with hopes of catching a nice sunrise from the trail. I knew that rain was in the forecast for the day but I thought it might hold off for a few more hours after checking the forecast and weather maps before leaving my house. I was wrong. As I neared the trailhead just outside of Fruita the skies opened up and a very heavy rain began to fall, which was accompanied by strong winds and a little lightning. I would not be hiking anywhere local this morning, so I turned around and drove back home.
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