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West End & Uncompahgre Plateau Trip Reports

Trip Reports from the West End and Uncompahgre Plateau including the Dominguez-Escalante and McInnis Canyons National Conservation Areas.
Trip Reports from the Colorado National Monument can be found here: Colorado National Monument Trip Reports

Ruby - Horsethief Canyons

Friday – Sunday, August 24-26, 2012

After work on Friday I met Jackson at the Westwater exit on I-70, after the slower than usual drive through two construction zones, so that we could drop his car off at the Westwater takeout along the Colorado River. Our plan this weekend was to float through the Ruby – Horsethief Canyons section of the Colorado River from Loma to Westwater. This was going to be my very first overnight river trip and I had been looking forward to it for a while. Thanks to all my new backpacking gear bought earlier this year, ...

Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park

Saturday, June 23, 2012

On Saturday I was invited by my friend Greg to visit the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park near Montrose. I’ve been wanting to visit this site for quite a while, but never got around to getting permission to go, so I jumped at the opportunity. Amanda and I planned to head back up into the San Juan Mountains again this weekend, so it worked out perfectly since we would be driving through Montrose on our way. We left Grand Junction very early so we could meet Greg at the park around sunrise. We ended up spending a ...

Backpacking Big Dominguez Canyon

Saturday & Sunday, April 28-29, 2012

I’m proud to say that I have finally gone on my very first backpacking trip. I’ve been collecting gear for the past few months and finally scheduled a trip with my friend Jackson and his dad. Since this was my first time, I wanted to keep the trip shorter and closer to home…kind of like a trial run to see how it all went. I’m happy to report that everything went well, and I’m looking forward to my next backpacking trip in the future.

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Devils Canyon Hike

D1 & D5 Loop
Sunday, December 4, 2011

After spending Saturday in Moab, I decided to stick close to home on Sunday and go for a hike in the Devils Canyon area near Fruita. I’ve hiked here a couple of times before, but still haven’t checked out all the trails in the area.

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Return to Big Dominguez Canyon

Sunday, November 27, 2011

After spending the last two days exploring Utah, I decided to stay close to home on Sunday. I have wanted to revisit the petroglyph panels in Big Dominguez Canyon, so I headed over to Bridgeport in the morning and started hiking. I had a later start than usual and was surprised to find that no one else was parked at the trailhead when I arrived.

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Divide Road Loop

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Since I returned home from my Arizona Strip and Southern Utah trip a day early, I thought it might be a good idea to take a drive up on the Uncompahgre Plateau to see if there were any fall colors left to photograph. Unfortunately, what I found was either the aspen trees were still green, or they had changed colors and the leaves had already fallen off. It seemed like there was no in-between up there. It was a very strange fall season this year, so it appears that I am not going to be taking ...

Deer Creek Petroglyphs

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

This is just a quick and short report from my after-work excursion today. Earlier in the day I learned about the location of a new petroglyph panel, known as the Deer Creek Petroglyphs, which happens to be located near my house, so I set out this evening to visit it and get a few photos. I tried to time my visit so that it would be close to sunset in hopes that the late sunlight would be shining right on the panel, but apparently I was too late since it was completely in the shadows when ...

Escalante Canyon Petroglyphs

Sunday, January 9, 2011

On Sunday, Amanda and I took a short trip to Escalante Canyon near Delta to locate some new petroglyphs and to revisit some ones I’ve been to before. The new panels we found were along the Gunnison River.

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Lower Dominguez Canyon

Friday, December 24, 2010 | Christmas Eve

On Friday I picked up my friend Jackson and we headed to Bridgeport to hike into Lower Dominguez Canyon. There are some petroglyphs a few miles into the canyon which were my main goal for the day, but it was a very nice and scenic canyon with a few waterfalls as well. It was a great way to spend Christmas Eve.

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Up on the Uncompahgre

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Since Amanda had to work today, it was up to me to figure out what I was going to do. While having breakfast this morning, I figured I would head up on the Uncompahgre Plateau to explore a few roads I haven’t been on yet. I started out on Divide Road and made a large loop all the way back home. Here’s a few pictures from my day.

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