IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Saturday & Sunday, June 23-24, 2012

After spending a few hours in the morning at the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park near Montrose, we continued driving into the San Juan Mountains to get out of the heat for the weekend. Shortly after crossing over Red Mountain Pass we turned down the road along the South Fork of Mineral Creek and found a campsite for the weekend. After setting up our camp we drove through Silverton and made our way up Cunningham Gulch to the trailhead for the Highland Mary Lakes. As soon as we passed through Silverton the valley started filling up with smoke, and by the time we reached the Cunningham Trailhead the smoke had become pretty thick and there was even a little ash falling from the sky. We would later learn this smoke was from a wildfire that had started near Mancos.

A view of the smoke in Cunningham Gulch from the trailhead.

Smoke in the Gulch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Entering the Weminuche Wilderness.

Weminuche Wilderness by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Smoke fills the sky with a view of the trail below through some pine trees.

Trail Below, Smoke Above by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

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 few hours searching the cliff faces for petroglyphs and taking photos. Here are a few photos of the petroglyphs…

Our favorite petroglyphs at the site were at the Bear Dance Panel.

Ute Bear Dance by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the bear climbing a tree petroglyph. Very unique and cool!

Bear in a Tree by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This was another large panel of petroglyphs next to the Bear Dance Panel.

Big Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday & Sunday, June 16-17, 2012

Amanda has been wanting to get back into the mountains for a while, so that’s where we went this weekend. Saturday morning we left the heat of the Grand Valley behind and drove up into the San Juan Mountains. Back in 2009 I visited an area called Gray Copper Gulch situated between the Red Mountains and Brown Mountain. I have wanted to get back up there again to take some new photos and figured this weekend would be a great time. After driving through Ouray we drove over Corkscrew Pass and then into Gray Copper Gulch. We found a nice campsite between a few of the ponds that I wanted to photograph.

When we arrived in Gray Copper Gulch, clouds were rolling in and the wind was blowing pretty good, as you can tell from the ripples in the water.

Ripples & Clouds by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Camp setup with Red Mountain #1 in the background.

Home for the Night by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Once our camp was setup we left Gray Copper Gulch to drive a few of the high passes in the area.

Leaving Gray Copper Gulch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Friday – Sunday, June 8-10, 2012

This weekend I met my friend Philippe and his wife on their annual trip to the Southwest from France. This year we planned a day to do a little hiking and exploring on Cedar Mesa (Last year we spent a day hiking in the San Rafael Swell). We spent Saturday hiking together and searching for a few ruins and rock art sites. That evening I ended up camping at their campsite in Natural Bridges. We also had an unexpected visitor to camp that evening when Laurent Martres and one of his friends stopped by. It was nice to meet him since I used his Photographing the Southwest books when I first started getting into photography a few years ago. We also got to see a sneak peek of a new book he will be publishing soon. On Sunday I went off on my own to do a little more exploring before heading back home. Here are plenty of photos from the weekend in no particular order.

After work on Friday I drove down to the Mule Canyon Towers and set up camp nearby. I managed to get there just as the sun was setting and striking one of the towers.

Cave Tower Sunset by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Philippe taking photos of the Bigfoot Ruins. The ruins are named the Bigfoot Ruins because there is a footprint in the mud next to the doorway of one of the structures.

Philippe and the Bigfoot Ruins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A pile of potsherds found at the Bigfoot Ruins.

Bigfoot Potsherds by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Bigfoot Ruins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Today I decided to take a day trip up to the Elk Mountains near Crystal and Lead King Basin. I had heard that most of the back-roads up there were opening up (earlier than usual) and I hadn’t been up that way in a few years, so I thought it would be nice to get back up there again.

As I was driving up to McClure Pass, I noticed the nice light on this large section of green aspen trees.

Spring Aspens by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I ended up visiting the ‘Crystal Mill’ twice during the day hoping to get some good photos, but the sky never really cooperated with me on this trip. Here are the best photos I was able to get. I’ll have to return another time to try again.

Crystal Power House by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Crystal River & Mill by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr