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Tag: sunrise

Colorado National Monument TraverseColorado National Monument Traverse

Colorado National Monument Traverse

The Face of the Monument | West to East
Saturday, April 12, 2014

Years ago I had the idea of hiking across the face of the Colorado National Monument from one entrance to the other but never seemed to get around to planning the route and following through on the hike because I was usually heading elsewhere for my weekends. A few weeks ago I told Diane about this idea and she was interested in joining me, so I finally got determined to follow through and started planning the route. Much of the route follows existing trails that I have hiked many times in the past, but there were a few segments that I needed to check out and find a few connecting off-trail routes between them. Over the past few weeks I have gone out a few times after work and scouted these segments to come up with the complete route.

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Sand Cove & Yellow RockSand Cove & Yellow Rock

Sand Cove & Yellow Rock

Friday – Sunday, January 31 – February 2, 2014

I had another permit to Coyote Buttes North this Saturday, so I decided to spend the weekend down around the Paria. The weather looked like it was going to be pretty nice so I was looking forward to getting in my first camping trip of the year. I only worked a half-day on Friday and then started driving through a snowstorm as I headed south through Utah. I finally got out of the snow shortly after passing through Monticello. I stopped for a quick dinner in Page and then hurried to make it up to the Paria Canyon Overlook in time for sunset. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave myself enough time and made it to the overlook just after the sun had set. I was a little disappointed at first, but soon realized that the canyon looked pretty good in the early twilight. I had originally planned on camping up at the overlook for the night, but it was much windier and colder up here than I had anticipated, so I decided to drive back down to the Stateline Campground for the night. That way I would also be much closer to the Wire Pass trailhead for an early start in the morning.

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Bluff Balloon FestivalBluff Balloon Festival

Bluff Balloon Festival

Saturday & Sunday, January 18-19, 2014

The Bluff Balloon Festival is an annual event that I have wanted to attend for a number of years, yet for some reason or another I have never made it down there for it. This year I finally changed that! Diane and I drove down to spend the weekend around Bluff so we could get a little hiking in and watch the balloons in the Valley of the Gods on Sunday morning. I don’t think we could have asked for a better weekend of weather in January since the temperature reached 60 degrees while we were out hiking on Saturday. It was great to get out of the colder weather in Grand Junction for a little while 🙂

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Last Weekend Around MoabLast Weekend Around Moab

Last Weekend Around Moab

Moab Area Rock Art XXIV | Friday – Sunday, October 11-13, 2013

After an amazing day of weather and photography I woke up early again and decided to drive out to Dead Horse Point State Park so I could catch the sunrise this morning. It had been a few years since I’d been up there and they were offering free admission to anyone with a National Parks Pass while the National Parks were still closed. I was also hoping there might be some leftover clouds from the storms the previous day. When I arrived I was surprised to find that there were only a couple of other people up there. I figured with all the other parks closed, this would be a popular place. I’m glad it wasn’t.

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Waterfalls & Rainbows Around MoabWaterfalls & Rainbows

Waterfalls & Rainbows Around Moab

Thursday, October 10, 2013

What a crazy day! The weather was all over the place which made for some great dynamic conditions- perfect for photography! My camera sure got a workout today. It started out by raining all night. My tent kept me dry and the rain actually stopped when my alarm went off so I could get up and photograph the sunrise. I hopped in my Jeep and drove up the Sand Flats Road to the Castle Valley Overlook but the sunrise never happened. It was just too cloudy and another storm rolled in while I was up there.

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