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Tag: wildflowers

Kodels CanyonKodels Canyon

Kodels Canyon

Monday, April 21, 2014

After hiking up the Fruita Dugway just over a week ago and being treated to some nice views down into Kodels Canyon for part of the way, I decided that I wanted to check out that canyon soon. I wasn’t expecting much on this short hike after work, but there were a lot of great sights in this short canyon at the very western edge of the Colorado National Monument. My understanding is that this canyon is named after an old prospector who had a cabin near the mouth of the canyon. He apparently dug the mine that is located up the canyon a short way and worked the claim for at least 30 years until around 1930.

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Otto’s BathtubOtto's Bathtub

Otto’s Bathtub

Easter | Sunday, April 20, 2014

My original plan for Easter Sunday was to hike and explore Sieber Canyon. Unfortunately, a road closed sign across Bs Road changed those plans when I tried to reach the trailhead first thing in the morning. With no backup plan I decided to drive over to the upper Liberty Cap trailhead, since it was not too far away, to finally hike to Otto’s Bathtub on Monument Mesa.

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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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Stormy San Juan MountainsStormy San Juan Mountains

Stormy San Juan Mountains

Saturday & Sunday, July 27-28, 2013

On Saturday morning I met up with a few friends from the Salt Lake City area that were on their way through town. They would be spending the following week in the San Juan Mountains and I was joining them for the weekend. We had breakfast in Grand Junction together and then made the drive south to Silverton. As soon as we reached Ouray it started to rain, and would continue to rain for much of the weekend until I was on my way home again Sunday evening. When we reached their rental house in Silverton they took some time to unpack and relax, but I headed up to Stony Pass for a little while just before sunset to see if there were any wildflowers still around.

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Mount Sherman & Quandary PeakMount Sherman & Quandary Peak

Mount Sherman & Quandary Peak

Friday – Sunday, July 5-7, 2013

My plans this weekend were to drive over to the Tenmile – Mosquito Range so that I could climb at least one 14er and hopefully a second one, too. I left work on Friday and headed east. A few hours later I had my campsite setup along Fourmile Creek just outside of Fairplay. I had a little time before dark, so I decided to drive up to the trailhead for Mount Sherman and check it out. Mount Sherman was my planned hike on Saturday morning.

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