IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

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 have book looking forward to it for a while. Thanks to all my new backpacking gear bought earlier this year, packing the inflatable kayak was much easier, even though I decided to bring along a bigger tent this trip. This section of the Colorado is about 25 miles in length and is pretty mild, but it flows through some beautiful sandstone canyons. Once Jackson’s car was parked in the Westwater parking lot we took my Jeep back to the Loma boat ramp and got our inflatable kayaks ready for the trip. As I suspected, we had the launch site to ourselves on a Friday evening at about 5:30pm.

Our boats loaded and ready for our weekend adventure.

Loaded & Ready by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Jackson walks along the shore of the Colorado River with storm clouds building over the Book Cliffs in the background.

Clouds Building by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We were a little hurried this evening since our campsite was 3 miles down the river at the mouth of Rattlesnake Canyon and we weren’t exactly sure how long it would take us to get there with the lower water levels. We were on the river by 6:00pm and had two hours of daylight to make it to our camp. To make us feel even more rushed, once we were on the water some storm clouds came over the cliffs in front of us and made us a little worried that we were going to get caught in the middle of a storm. Luckily the storm missed up and it only took us an hour to paddle those first three miles to Rattlesnake Canyon.

Jackson paddles down the river as storm clouds build in front of us and behind us.

Outrunning the Storm by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Friday – Sunday, August 17-19, 2012

I went to work on Friday with all my camping gear loaded in my Jeep, but no plans on where to go. I just knew I wanted to get up in the mountains for two nights, but not to the San Juan’s again. When I finally left work, I decided to make my way towards Aspen since I haven’t been that way for a while. As I was driving to Aspen I tried to think of any lakes that I could camp by to hopefully catch a good sunrise, and the only one I could think of was Taylor Lake, so that’s where I headed.

As I was driving up to Taylor Pass on the Express Creek Road, the late evening sunlight was filtered through a thick layer of smoke that has blanketed most of Colorado all week causing it to appear much warmer than normal.

Yellow Road by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Driving up the final switchback to reach Taylor Pass.

To Taylor Pass by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The sun getting close to setting behind the Elk Mountains. The sky still filled with smoke.

Smoky Sun by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Friday – Sunday, August 10-12, 2012

I had really wanted to go backpacking in the San Juan Mountains this weekend, but was unable to find anyone that was able to go with me. Since this would only be my third backpacking trip (first time in the mountains), I was a little hesitant to go by myself, but a few days before the weekend had finally arrived I decided that I would take a solo trip up to Ice Lake Basin. I figured that it was a popular area and that I probably wouldn’t be the only one camping up there anyway.

After work on Friday I headed south to the San Juan Mountains and drove up to Clear Lake to spend the night before starting my first solo backpack trip on Saturday morning.

Evening clouds reflected on a small lake below Clear Lake.

Reflected Clouds by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

My campsite up near Clear Lake with some sunlight breaking through the clouds and lighting up the peak in the background.

Morning Camp by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After setting up my camp near Clear Lake I hiked around the basin to take some photos as the sun was setting.

A mountain peak across the valley lit up and reflected.

Peak Reflection by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday & Sunday, August 4-5, 2012

On Saturday I met up with Jackson and his family so that we could float a section of the Green River known as the Green River Daily. This section is a few miles long and located within Gray Canyon a few miles north of the town of Green River. There aren’t really any big rapids on this stretch of the river, especially at this year’s very low water flows, so we were just expecting a nice relaxing float with a lot of swimming to stay cool. I also hoped to find some new petroglyphs along the way.

After dropping off my Jeep at the Swaseys Rapid takeout, we continued in Jackson’s Prius to the put-in at Nefertiti. The last time I was on this road it had been freshly bladed and I don’t recall it being too rough, but unfortunately this time around it was a bit rocky and almost too much for the Prius. The most difficult part was through a few stretches of sand that he had to power through. Luckily, he somehow managed to get that little car to the end of the road without getting stuck or scraping up the bottom too badly. If he hadn’t, we would have been walking back to the Jeep and not getting on the river.

After reaching the put-in at Nefertiti, we got our boats setup under the shade of a large cottonwood tree.

Getting Ready by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Ready to get on the river for the day.

Ready to Launch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Just around the first bend we paddled under the large Nefertiti Rock.

Below Nefertiti by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday & Sunday, July 28-29, 2012

On Saturday morning, Amanda and I took a leisurely drive over Kebler Pass to spend a nice and relaxed weekend in the Elk Mountains just outside of Crested Butte.

On our way, I stopped a few times along Kebler Pass to take photos of the many aspen trees found here.

Aspen Chaos by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A view along Kebler Pass Road. It’s been a few years since I came this way to photograph the fall colors, so I think I might need to return again in a few months…

Kebler Pass Road by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After reaching Crested Butte, we continued through town and then followed the Slate River up to the Paradise Divide. This was where we were planning on camping, so we found a spot and setup our tent before the afternoon storms started. We had a great view from camp!

Paradise Camp by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr