IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Saturday, October 2, 2010 | Day 1

On Saturday morning I left Grand Junction and headed into Utah. I made my way through Green River and Hanksville before reaching Capitol Reef. My destination was Escalante, but I would be getting off of the pavement for a little bit on the way. I took the Scenic Drive past Capitol Gorge where the pavement turned to dirt. With all the storms Southern Utah had seen this year, I wasn’t sure if the road was going to be washed out or not, but I got lucky and it wasn’t too bad. There were a few rough sections, but nothing a high clearance vehicle couldn’t handle.

I was treated to a great display of colors on Boulder Mountain in the distance

Soon I reached the pavement again and headed south through Boulder and then on to Escalante. I met my friend Jared at the BLM visitor center where we got our camping permits for the next few nights, bought a few books and then transferred his gear into my Jeep. We grabbed some lunch at the Golden Loop and then dropped off his car at the Boulder Mail Trailhead. I gassed up the Jeep before heading down the Cedar Wash Road.

Our first stop along this road was a short hike to the Covered Wagon Natural Bridge.

A large alcove we walked through on the way

Covered Wagon Natural Bridge

Continue reading

Before I left on my trip last week, I ordered a new backpack from B&H. I need a good backpack for day hikes that can carry my photography gear and still hold my water and other personal items. Plus, I have set myself a goal to try and do an overnight backpacking trip next year, and am hoping this backpack will also work for that.

After a lot of research, the only backpack I could find that met all of my requirements was the Clik Elite Hiker, which is designed for the adventure photographer. I’m hoping it will work well for me!

On Sunday we headed south to Telluride so we could ride the Gondola and check out Mountain Village. After that we stopped at the Union Cafe in Ridgway for some delicious burgers, and then we headed up to Coal Creek to check out some more fall colors. Here’s a few photos I took along the way with my S90….

Boarding the Gondola to Mountain Village

Mountain Village

We did a little hiking at the middle stop on the way back….St. Sophia Station.

Telluride down below

Continue reading

On Saturday morning Amanda and I headed to Meeker for our annual Fall Colors trip. This year we would be checking out the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway. This road is about 80 miles in length and connects the towns of Meeker and Yampa. Both ends are paved for a number of miles and the section in the middle is a well-maintained gravel road…..but we weren’t here for a challenge, we were here to check out the scenery. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of fall colors along this route, but luckily we were able to find some nice colors along the way.

Starting to see some colors as we climb into the Flat Tops.

Our first destination off of the main route was the side trip that would take us to Trappers Lake. There weren’t many colors to be found here because of the Big Fish wildfire that burned 17,056 acres back in 2002.

A few photos from our hike along Trappers Lake.

Colorful drive on our way back to the Flat Tops Trail

I stopped in a colorful grove of aspens for a few photos.

Continue reading

Yesterday morning Amanda and I headed to the Colorado National Monument to hike the full Liberty Cap trail. I have hiked it from the bottom before, which is a shorter, but steeper hike. This time I wanted to start from Rim Rock Drive and hike across Monument Mesa to Liberty Cap, and then finish off the trail to the bottom. The full trail was about 7 miles in length and took us about 4 hours to complete. Here’s a couple of pictures I took along the way.

Views over the valley when we reached the rim

Can you spot the trail down from the rim?

Liberty Cap

Amanda and I in front of the Liberty Cap