After Work Adventures | Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Hard to believe, but I recently realized that it’s been five years since I last headed up onto the Grand Mesa to check out the Fall Colors, which was something I used to do almost every year at the end of September. With that in mind, even though I knew the autumn colors seemed to be running a bit behind this year, I decided to head up onto the Grand Mesa after work today for a short evening visit since it would be my only opportunity this week. Unfortunately, there was also ...
Fleming Point to Big Wash | Average CFS: 1,385
After Work Adventures | Tuesday, May 23, 2023
While Jackson and I were floating through Little Yampa Canyon a few days ago we were talking about where we wanted to go next and decided that it was finally time for us to paddle down Plateau Creek after work this week. This is a creek that is very close to home that we have wanted to check out for quite a long time, but some years it’s hard to catch enough water to make it happen during the short spring runoff window ...
Goodenough Reservoir Peaks: Mount Darline & Mount Hatten
Friday & Saturday, September 24-25, 2021
After spending a few days on the Green River earlier in the week, I would be leaving for a full week of exploration on the Colorado Plateau this upcoming Friday, so this weekend would be my last opportunity to get into the high country for some peak-bagging to finish off the summer season. I needed this to be a quick trip near home so I could be back by Saturday afternoon to start preparing for the upcoming trip to southern Utah next week, so I thought ...
Sunday, August 1, 2021
This was one of those rare weekends when my plans just didn’t work out at all. I was originally planning to spend most of the weekend trying to hike around the strong monsoon weather in the San Juan Mountains around Silverton, but after leaving work on Friday afternoon and almost making it to Red Mountain Pass, I was stopped by a mudslide that wasn’t going to be cleaned up for a while. I ended up driving back to Ouray figure out my next move, but with mudslides and road closures already common throughout the mountains and ...
Flowing Park to Point Peninsula
Sunday, August 4, 2019
After spending Saturday morning hiking to the summit of Red Mountain #2 and then going to a concert in the evening, we slept in a little later on Sunday morning before heading out for the day. It has been a while since we have gone on a mountain bike ride, so we decided to head up onto the Grand Mesa for a few hours with our bikes. After looking at a map we decided to give the Flowing Park Trail a try since it looked like there wouldn’t be too much ...
Fall Colors 2018 | Sunday, September 16, 2018
After a quick trip up to Imogene Pass in the San Juan Mountains on Saturday morning I wasn’t planning on going anywhere else for the rest of the weekend. However, when I saw that the fall colors were looking pretty good this early in the season I figured it would be worth it to take a quick drive up onto the Grand Mesa later on Sunday afternoon to catch the sunset. It turned out to be a pretty good decision! Originally, I was planning on heading up to the Grand Mesa after ...
Fall Colors 2017 | Monday, September 25, 2017
This evening I headed up onto the Grand Mesa after work for a couple of hours so I could try to catch a few fall colors this season with my camera. Unfortunately, the colors didn’t seem to be as good as they usually are with plenty of stripped trees and unhealthy looking leaves, but I managed to find a couple nice areas and used my long lens to help isolate the best colors. There was even a little snow still sticking around on the top of the mesa from the winter storm ...
Fall Colors | Wednesday, September 21, 2016
I made a last minute decision after work today and went for a drive up onto the Grand Mesa to check on the fall colors this evening. It turned out to be a good call since the colors were looking pretty good. I slowly made my way up the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway to Skyway Point and then explored the old Grand Mesa Road and a few other backroads in the area while I was up there until after sunset. There’s not really much else to say about this short evening excursion, so ...
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Recently I’ve been trying to get out on more hikes in the evening after work before the days start getting too short for that. Today I was looking for something close to home without too much elevation gain and settled on hiking up Big Wash which is located a short distance up Plateau Creek from I-70 along the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. Big Wash drains part of the west side of the Grand Mesa starting up near Chalk Mountain and joins Plateau Creek just upstream from the Colorado River. It turned out to be a nice ...
Fall Colors 2015
Color Sunday | Sunday, September 27, 2015
Since I had only spent the day in the San Juan Mountains on Saturday, Diane and I decided to drive up onto the Grand Mesa for a few hours to check out the fall colors up there on Sunday afternoon. We took the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway via Plateau Creek to the Land O Lakes Trail where we stopped and went on the short hike to the overlook.
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Sunday, January 4, 2015
After our trip to northern Arizona earlier in the week, we were looking forward to spending a lazy weekend relaxing at home, but we still felt the need to get outside for some snowshoeing on Sunday. We decided to drive up to Mesa Lakes on the Grand Mesa for a short loop on packed trails. We started following the West Bench Trail past Sunset Lake, then followed Mesa Creek back past the Ranger Station and circled around Sunset Lake to Beaver Lake before returning to the trailhead on the other side of Jumbo Reservoir. It was ...
Saturday, December 20, 2014
After being lazy last weekend, Diane and I decided to drive up onto the Grand Mesa this morning so we could get in our first snowshoeing trip of the season. We wanted to go somewhere new and away from the crowds, so we parked near the Visitor Center and took the trail to Arch Slough Reservoir. It was certainly a good trail to get away from the crowds since no one had been on it yet this season. That meant we had the privilege of breaking trail through about three feet of fresh powder the whole ...
Autumnal Equinox | Fall Colors 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
After getting home from the San Juan Mountains on Sunday, I turned my attention to photographing local fall colors this week. I did a little research online and found that the colors up on the Grand Mesa were looking pretty good right now, so I decided to head up there after work. I spent much of the evening photographing the colors between Spruce Point, Mesa Lakes and Skyway Point since they were looking pretty good in this area. The clearing clouds from the weekend storms created dynamic lighting conditions and ...
Mesa County High Point
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Since I had the day off from work I decided to go on a short hike close to home today. While I doubt I’ll ever try to complete all the county high points in Colorado, I thought it might be nice to at least climb the highest peak in Mesa County where I reside (and maybe a few of the surrounding counties, eventually). After a little research I found that Leon Peak on the Grand Mesa is the highest point in Mesa County at 11,236 feet and that it was a pretty ...
Saturday, January 25, 2014
On Saturday I headed up onto the Grand Mesa with Diane and Jackson to get in a little snowshoeing on the West Bench Trail. The temperature this afternoon was in the 40’s, so hiking was very pleasant in a lightweight jacket. The Mesa doesn’t appear to have received any fresh snow recently, so the trail was well-packed the entire time. It was a nice way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. Here are a few photos I took on our little hike.
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Saturday, December 22, 2012
On Saturday evening I drove up onto the Grand Mesa so I could get my first snowshoe trip of the season in. I ended up going to the Mesa Lakes area and following the route that goes past the Water Dog Reservoir. I didn’t bring my camera with me this time, but I did take a few photos with my iPhone that I’ll share. I only saw two other people the whole time I was out on the trail and I made it back to my Jeep shortly before sunset. It was a nice way to ...
Fall Colors 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
After work I decided to drive up on top of the Grand Mesa for a few hours to try and photograph some of the fall colors before it was too late. I was hoping to come back with a couple of photos, but instead I came back with a whole trip report! The colors were outstanding and the active weather provided a lot of interesting views throughout the evening. I even got caught in a snowstorm while on the very top, reminding me of the approaching winter.
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Christmas Eve | Saturday, December 24, 2011
Since Amanda had to work this morning, I decided to head up on the Grand Mesa to do a little snowshoeing. I bought a new pair of snowshoes and some new poles a few months back and wanted to try them out. Since I was testing out new gear and only had a few hours I decided to head back to the West Bench Trail since I’m familiar with it.
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Saturday, February 26, 2011
Amanda and I headed up to the Grand Mesa for a few hours this afternoon. There was a ton of new snow up there and it was still coming down hard. The wind was blowing pretty good, too. Before heading back down we did stop at the Union Cafe for some burgers.
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Sunday, February 6, 2011
This afternoon my friend Jackson and I spent a few hours exploring the Plateau Creek area of the Grand Mesa. I wanted to check out a new rock art panel, and he was in search of some birds to photograph. Here’s a few photos I took as we explored the area.
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Saturday, January 8, 2011
My first official trip report of 2011. Amanda had to work in Avon, so I headed up on the Grand Mesa to get in my first snowshoe trip of the season. There was an inversion in the Grand Valley, so it was nice to get up above the haze and into some warmer temperatures, too! When I started driving up onto the Grand Mesa I wasn’t sure which trail I was going to explore, but when I got up there I decided to head out on the West Bench Trail for a few miles. I ended ...
Saturday, September 4, 2010
This morning/afternoon Amanda and I headed up to the Grand Mesa to hike part of the Crag Crest Trail. We ended up hiking about 3.5 miles in and then returned the same way for a total of 7 miles. Here’s a few photos from the hike.
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Amanda and I headed up onto Grand Mesa today for a few hours. After heading up Lands End Road to the observatory, we stopped there to feed some of the chipmunks. I snapped a few photos…
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Amanda and I headed up onto Grand Mesa today for a few hours. We started out by heading up Lands End Road and stopping at the observatory. From there we headed over to Lake Carson and had some lunch.
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Sunday, June 29, 2008
For lunch today, Amanda and I decided to head up on top of Grand Mesa. I thought it would be a good idea to check out Lands End Road.
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