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Tag: uncompahgre plateau

The Gunnison River: Redlands Dam to Dos Rios Park

The Grand Junction of the Gunnison River and Colorado River | Estimated CFS: 460
Summer Solstice | Tuesday, June 21, 2022

After floating part of the Gunnison River from Whitewater to the Redlands Dam with Jackson a little over a week ago, we knew that we would have to come back with our packrafts to float the short section from the Redlands Dam down to the confluence with the Colorado River since it’s one of the remaining few sections below Pleasure Park that neither of us had done yet. After figuring out a date that our schedules aligned, we planned the short float for today after work on the Summer Solstice. Since we didn’t have too much time in the evening, this needed to be a short float, so we planned to take-out at Dos Rios Park just below the confluence at a spot that Jackson had scouted the previous weekend. We left from work, dropped Jackson’s car off at Dos Rios and then took my Jeep down to the Redlands Dam where we inflated our packrafts and got on the river.

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Maiden Voyage & Ute Beaver Panel

Saturday, May 14, 2022

Before I spent most of the weekend working on my new Jeep to get it ready for our upcoming road trip, I took it out for a spin on some dusty backroads near home so I could get a feel for it off of the pavement. I also took Diane to revisit a cool Ute pictograph panel I’ve been meaning to get back to for a while. Here are a couple of photos from the morning drive and hike.

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The Gunnison River: Escalante Creek to Bridgeport

Saturday, May 7, 2022 | Average CFS: 2,635

This weekend I was looking to stay local and to get back on the river for the first time this season, so I made plans with my friend Jackson to float a section of the Gunnison River along the northeastern edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau from Escalante Creek to Bridgeport on Saturday morning- assuming the windy weather we’ve been having across the Southwest would cooperate! Although I have floated this section of the Gunnison River once before back in 2009, that time I tagged along with a friend in his raft and I really don’t remember much about the trip, so I was looking forward to getting back with my own inflatable kayak this time. In order to try to beat the wind, Jackson and his son Ken met me at my house early in the morning and transferred their gear into my Jeep. We then dropped Jackson’s car off at Bridgeport and headed over to the boat ramp at Escalante Creek. After inflating and rigging our kayaks, we were on the water shortly before 8:30am.

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Salt Wash: Lost Spring Canyon to Cordova Canyon

Arches National Park | Saturday, April 23, 2022

Recently I realized that it’s been a while since I last explored the backcountry of Arches National Park and I was definitely overdue for a return. After a winter hike down Lower Salt Wash Canyon a couple years ago I’ve been interested in exploring the upper reaches of Salt Wash and a recent Trip Report from Dennis finally gave me the motivation I needed to get back out to that area. I was all set to leave after work on Friday afternoon like I usually do, but a storm system was moving through the area with very strong winds and rain, so I decided to stay home overnight and then leave early in the morning since I wasn’t travelling far from home this weekend. After a good night of sleep I woke up early on Saturday morning, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed west into Utah.

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Edna Mine & Devils Canyon Overlook

Canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness | Tuesday, April 19, 2022

I’ve really been slacking on my After Work Adventures for a while now and had really hoped to change that this spring, but so far I haven’t got out for one hike during the week this year. Well, that finally changed today when I left after work and headed back up into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness to search for the Edna Mine, which is an old Uranium mine found near the head of Devils Canyon that was active during the 1950’s and 1960’s. The temperature was into the low 80’s when I started hiking and the sky was pretty cloudy, but the strong winds helped keep me cool and the clouds started to open up a bit while I was exploring the mine, so it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon for a hike.

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