After Work Adventures | Tuesday, September 29, 2026
This afternoon I left from work and headed up to Vega State Park for a second chance to to see if I could find some nice fall colors on the Grand Mesa this season. You know, it’s kind of funny that I’d never actually been to Vega State Park until I passed through while following the route of the Dominguez – Escalante Expedition earlier this month, and now I’ve been here twice in the last two weeks! I planned to hike the Aspen Nature Trail along the southern end of Vega Reservoir ...
After Work Adventures | Wednesday, September 23, 2026
I headed up onto the Grand Mesa this afternoon to spend a few hours seeing how the fall colors were coming along like I try do each year around this time. As I was driving up the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway I found that there was still a lot of green lower down around the Mesa Creek area, but there were a few patches of nice colors here and there, including some oranges. Unfortunately, my favorite overlook at Skyway Point was already past it’s prime, so it was kind of a mixed ...
Pageant in the Wilderness: Following in the Footsteps of Friars Dominguez & Escalante
Saturday – Monday, September 19-21, 2026 (August 27 – September 17, 1776)
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the 1776 Dominguez-Escalante Expedition through the southwest and I wanted to do a little something special to celebrate the semiquincentennial of this monumental undertaking in my own little way. Although I would have liked to have been able to follow in the footsteps of Dominguez & Escalante (D&E) for the entirety of their route through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, I just don’t have that kind ...
Summer Solstice on the Grand Mesa | Sunday, June 21, 2026
After going on a nice overnight backpacking trip into the Flat Tops Wilderness with Jackson, I returned home on Saturday afternoon to spend some time with our new kitties. Then on Sunday morning Diane and I drove up onto the Grand Mesa so we could hike to the summit of Leon Peak, which at 11,236 feet is the highest point in Mesa County, since she had never been up there before and I was interested in returning again since the last time I was there was about twelve ...
After Work Adventures | Tuesday, September 23, 2025
I’m not going to have very much time to chase fall colors this season, so I decided to head up onto the Grand Mesa after work this afternoon to spend a few hours seeing how the colors were coming along so far this year. I’m glad that I did since the colors were almost at peak and looking pretty great just about everywhere I went, including at my favorite overlook at Skyway Point. I also took a chance exploring some new areas that I had never been to before and found some ...
After Work Adventures | Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Although we didn’t get to go backpacking on the Grand Mesa late last month like we had hoped, now that the Lands End Road is open I figured I’d head up after work this afternoon to hike a short loop above Coal Creek Basin from the Switchback Trail to Shirttail Point. Last summer I had hiked down the Palisade Plunge Trail to Otto’s Wall from Shirttail Point but was turned back by an incoming storm, so I was looking forward to returning to this part of the Grand Mesa. This hike turned ...
After Work Adventures | Thursday, September 19, 2024
I’ve got a very busy couple of weeks coming up with a Canyon of Lodore river trip schedule for next week and right afterwards I will be leaving to spend a week along the Arizona Strip at the beginning of October, so I’m not really going to have any time to chase fall colors in Colorado this year. Even though I know it’s too early for peak fall colors, I thought it would be a good idea to head up onto the Grand Mesa after work this afternoon to see how the ...
After Work Adventures | Monday, July 15, 2024
Today I spent all day up on the Grand Mesa for work as we inspected three of the City’s largest dams with a drone. The project took us most of the day and since we finished around the time I would usually be heading home form work, I decided to stick around for a while to get a little hiking in on a segment of the Palisade Plunge Trail before I headed home for the evening.
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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 ...
