Skywatch.. Colorado National Monument

Howdee all,

Summer of 2006 ..we spent a bit over a month in the south west portion of Colorado.
One place we visited was Colorado National Monument. Beautiful rock formations and scenery.

And Beautiful Skies.
Go visit the Monument if you can!




Happy Skywatch to you all!

Rabbit Ear and McDonald Creek Hikes

We did two hikes today, Rabbit Ear and McDonald Creek. It was cool the start of Rabbit ear hike...then slowly warmed up to hot.

Rabbit Ear featured views of the Colorado river and the LaSalle mountain range and the mesas.

It was very Hot when we hiked McDonald creek, ugh...the Indian rock art was nice to see.
other wise it was hot...I think the low 80s.

So it is time to move on anyway, cooler climates,
fall weather. We leave tomorrow to meet John and Barbara in Idaho.

Rough Canyon and Mica Mine Hike

Great Hike via a stream bed in Rough Canyon and to a Mica Mine in Bangs Canyon.

In Rough Canyon we did allot of bouldering. Good work out for the arms and legs. Found some rock art.


This picture is Jeff standing near some native American rock art.

The Mica Mine was allot of fun, big chunks of mica, and tailing's of white quartz.


photos

music by Baka Beyond

Pollock Bench Hike

Today we did our last hike in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.

We hiked Pollock Bench and a bit of the Flume trail. It was sad to say goodbye to this wonderful area we have been hiking.

It was another great hike, hot day, in the high 70s. Nice Rock Formations.

Some very cool homes made into the rock formations. Check out the Picture below.

Tomorrow we plan on hiking to an old mica mine. Hopefully we will find some nice specimens.

pictures

Rattlesnake Canyon Arches Hike

Today we hiked Rattlesnake Canyon Arches Trail.
We had intended to do this hike yesterday, but when we read that it was a 14 mile hike from where we had wanted to start we decided to take another route. It was suggested that the 14 mile hike is best done in two days. So we opted for the long 11 mile drive over bumpy dirt roads and a six mile hike instead.
It was a beautiful clear day in the mid seventies. The rock spires and arches were amazing to see.
We saw a golden eagle, and many bunny rabbits.

pictures here

Devils Canyon Hike

Today we hiked Devils Canyon.

It was a beautiful day. Started out cool but then warmed up and was in the 70s.

I was able to hike in a tank top and Capri's.
That's what I'm takin about.
No clouds in the sky.
It was all about rocks today.....
saw a coyote too.

7 mile round trip hike...easy compared to what we had been doing.

Tomorrow we plan on doing a 12 mile hike to some arches. I am excited about that one....will look on the ground again for arrowheads.

pictures

Hike into Monument Canyon

Today we Hiked Monument Canyon.
It was a 7 mile hike for us. Not much elevation change , 600 feet. So an easy hike for us today.
It was a pleasant day, in the high 60s. I looked for arrowheads. If I found one i wouldnt be able to keep it because this is a National Monument.
OH Well.
The red rock formations are amazing.

pictures here..

music again by Baka Beyond

Fruita Fall Festival

Happy New Year to all our Jewish Friends and Family.

Today we didn't do to much, Jeff watched the Ryder cup in the am. Then we went to the Fruita Fall Festival for a few hours. Good Music, Some good crafts.
Went out for Pizza...Pablo's Pizza.
It was fantastic pizza..thin crispy crust. We had the Sophia, and
the Yogi Way Salad. Wow..both great.
Now we have to Hike big time.

We plan on doing a twelve mile one tomorrow into the monument area.

What Pizza and salad show we order next?

Colorado National Monument Drive

Well today was rainy all morning and afternoon, so I worked on my music library and Jeff watched golf....or excuse me...he watched the Ryder Cup.

Late afternoon when golf was over and the rain stopped we went for a drive into the
Colorado National Monument.

A very Cool place. The rock formations beautiful.
I look forward to the next week of hiking in this place. I just hope it gets warmer.

check out the pictures here

Now in Fruitia, Colorado near Grand Junction

Howdy,

Yeah we moved on...away from the scarey Black Canyon...ha...

We are now in Fruita.
We are staying at the Colorado river state park
We are close to Grand Junction and the fruit orchards,
Colorado National Monument
and
McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area

There seems to be lots of hiking here so we may stay here about a week..
We will go to the Fruita Fall Festival this weekend.

So far Looks like a very fun area to be in.

Thanks to you all for your comments on my blog.

Crystals and Chocolate

Well it was a cloudy and rainy day, so I took time to take pictures of the Crystals.


Then went into town to get supplies and check out the Russell Stover chocolate outlet.

Drive to North Rim of the Black Canyon and Green Mountain Hike

YIKES....again I say YIKES...
I dont know about you but I get this strange sinking feeling in my legs and butt when I get close to the edge in a high place....and this was high and straight down....too scary for me.

I couldnt stay near the edge very long.

Needless to say I didnt have the most comfortable day.

The scenery was amazing. I think I would rather be in the canyon looking up, as far as comfort is concerned.







click here to see pictures of the trip

Now In Montrose, Colorado

Howdy,
We have moved to Montrose
a bit lower in Elevation.....so it is a bit warmer. In the seventies today and tomorrow the same.
We are staying at Kings Riverbend Park. Nice RV park...with a river running by it. Free Wifi.
We plan on touring the Black Canyon while we are here and doing some more hiking.
Tomorrow we plan on taking a 2 hour drive and then hiking.


Jeff also would like to hike down into the canyon and fish. I am not sure about doing that hike. I hear it is very difficult. So we will see.

Bridge of Heaven Hike

Well this was quite a hike. 3000 plus elevation gain, 8.4 miles. Wonderful mountain top scenery.
Crystals on the mountain top. It was sooo cold starting the hike and again when we got to the bridge of heaven.
my fingers got numb.

Link to pictures of the Hike

Crystals for my family.....Yipee

Hanging out and Portland Mine hike

Well this video is two days in one... yesterday we just hung out. It was a rainy cold day. I got my hair colored, jeff worked on the computer and read. I am two pages away from finishing lonesome dove. The second part of the video is our hike we did today to the portland mine and some of the crystals and rocks we picked up...we got a late start, too bad...I would have liked more time hunting crystals....boo hoo.

Box Canyon Falls and Rockhounding

The forecast for today wasn't so great...rain, so we decided to stay in town and do a few things.
We had breakfast, went to the Coffee shop that has great Organic coffee.

Then took our previous rock findings to the Rock shop and found out that we are Fools...ha we aren't rich...we have Pyrite...

But that's OK...we will find the mother load soon.

We then went to the falls...very nice. After that went out for lunch, did a little drive thru town and then to an old mine site and looked thru the rocks. Found some rocks with small crystals on them.
link to pictures of the day

WARNING you might want to turn the volume down on your speakers when I get close to the falls...
very Noisy

Blue Lakes Hike

It was a nice warm day. Great huff puff hike. I was a bit tired to start but I hung in there and it was well worth it.

The first lake was sooooo Blue.
I think we had about 2000 foot or so elevation gain. My feet didn't mind going up...but they weren't so happy going down.


click here to see all the pictures

I wanted a John Denver song for this last video..but alas I didnt have one on my computer.
I guess I need to subscribe to some music download thingy...or buy an album..

Bear Creek Hike, Grizzly and Yellow jacket mines

We had a Beautiful sunny day for this hike....thank goodness.
I couldnt imagine doing this hike in rain.
It didnt seem so scary to me on the way up to the mines, but the way back we were going down and It was scarey in areas.
YIKES

We found some cool gold rocks...we are now real rich.

Link to Pictures from this hike



music on the last video by Diane Ziegler from her album These are the Roots

Drive from Silverton to Ouray on the million dollar highway

We are now in Ouray staying at Timber Ridge RV park.

Click here to see where we are on a map.

The drive over the mountain pass on the Million dollar Highway was a bit hair raising.....
I had to help Jeff several times by telling him when to brake and when to slow down. ha....



It is much warmer here than Silverton...but it is also about 2000 feet lower in elevation too.

Ice Lake, Island Lake Hike

This was a beautiful hike, and challenging
We had a 2,000 foot elevation gain...PUFF PUFF
We got an early start to avoid the afternoon rain/thunderstorms that seem to happen here every afternoon.
It was cold..and I am ready to get back in some warmer weather for sure.

But, the snow on the mountain tops was a nice sight to see.

click this link to see the photos of the trip

Or check out the last video on this blog for a photo slideshow of the hike....If i have more than ten minutes of video...which i have been doing lately, I cant put xtra pictures at the end of my videos because of
upload limitations on u tube...so i made a separate video slideshow for the pictures....

Music in the last video from Steve Earles Train a Comin' cd.