BJett
Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2013
- Messages
- 556
After my week backpacking, car camping and hiking around Cedar Mesa and White Canyon in Bears Ears NM I headed up to the San Rafael Swell for 4 days. I backpacked into Chimney Canyon from Hidden Splendor Mine, drove the backroads exploring the Swell behind the Reef, found amazing car camping spots and solitude, and day hiked into Eardley Canyon.
My wife was flying into Grand Junction, CO in a few days so I got a head start and spent two nights car camping and hiking near the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness in Mesa County, another old favorite area of mine. Sieber Canyon is just south of the Wilderness boundary and has one of the most spectacular petroglyph panels on the west slope. Its a beautiful canyon and a great example of arroyo cutting.
My wife wanted to see the wild ponies of the Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Area just east of GJ so we spent an afternoon hiking and hanging with the horses.
Muddy Creek
Muddy Creek was starting to rise daily at this point, bummed I missed out on paddling thru the Chute on this trip. It was still a few weeks away from being boatable.
Onward to Chimney Canyon
Little Susan Mine is quickly deteriorating
The alkaline deposits looked like snow
Bucket list destination. The forks of Chimney Canyon are full of tucked away gems, and I had clear flowing water in a few of the forks.
Primrose
Iconic San Rafael Swell
Eardley Canyon. The routes in from Cliff Dweller Flat are fun scrambling and slightly spicy.
On to Colorado...
That's a lot of erosion over the years
Little Bookcliffs
My wife was flying into Grand Junction, CO in a few days so I got a head start and spent two nights car camping and hiking near the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness in Mesa County, another old favorite area of mine. Sieber Canyon is just south of the Wilderness boundary and has one of the most spectacular petroglyph panels on the west slope. Its a beautiful canyon and a great example of arroyo cutting.
My wife wanted to see the wild ponies of the Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Area just east of GJ so we spent an afternoon hiking and hanging with the horses.
Muddy Creek
Muddy Creek was starting to rise daily at this point, bummed I missed out on paddling thru the Chute on this trip. It was still a few weeks away from being boatable.
Onward to Chimney Canyon
Little Susan Mine is quickly deteriorating
The alkaline deposits looked like snow
Bucket list destination. The forks of Chimney Canyon are full of tucked away gems, and I had clear flowing water in a few of the forks.
Primrose
Iconic San Rafael Swell
Eardley Canyon. The routes in from Cliff Dweller Flat are fun scrambling and slightly spicy.
On to Colorado...
That's a lot of erosion over the years
Little Bookcliffs
