SATURDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2023

(Silt, CO – Grand Junction, CO)

The sleeping part went reasonably well. After ‘lights out’ by 9pm, we both slept until around 4am. Andrew got back to sleep, but I was awake until around 6.15, when I finally fell back to sleep until shortly before 8am. I made coffee, looked out the window at the weather (no snow, just wet) and we gradually came to, before going for breakfast at 9am. The usual hotel free breakfast was fine, and they had a pancake making machine, so I was happy.

After showers, digging out hiking clothes, boots and rucksacks and putting everything else back in the cases we checked out at 1045, and then wandered around the back of the hotel to look at the Colorado River, which runs right behind the hotel. Nice golden leaves, a couple of cows drinking from the river and a very fresh feel to the air.

Although there was no snow in the valley, looking at the radar map, the snow clouds were sitting over the top of Grand Mesa, which is up at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. We decided that today was not the day for visiting, in part because of the snow, and in part because the cloud level was clearly below the summit height, so we wouldn’t get any good views anyway.

Instead, we headed further west on I-70, just past Grand Junction, taking the Fruita exit, and took the road leading to Colorado National Monument. This is a winding road, following the cliff edge and providing views of, and access to, numerous rock columns, buttes and canyons. I had driven the road once before in 2006 (Andrew was otherwise occupied…), but I didn’t remember all that much about it, and I certainly didn’t have chance to do any hiking.

We stopped at the first viewpoint and I was already excited to be back in red rock country! We stopped a few other places to look at the rocks and the view and then went to the visitor centre. After looking at the interesting exhibits, we had our snack bar lunches and then, for the first time this trip, put on our boots.

The Canyon Rim Trail started behind the visitor centre, and we had no problem following the trail, because as long as you stayed on the rim, there weren’t really that many ways to go wrong. The weather was cold when we set off, cloudy and with a chill wind, and an air temp of 54F. The light as clouds came and went created views of the canyon that changed by the minute. Tall columns of rock towered about the canyon floor.

As we neared the turn around point we saw lightning on the rim on the far side of the valley, and rain over Grand Junction, but it looked like we would be ok. In fact, the sun came out to stay. As soon as it did, it felt really warm, and I removed a couple of layers, down to my t-shirt.

Back at the car we continued our drive, stopping first at Independence Overlook, then at Coke Ovens Overlook.

We then decided that as we were only a quarter of the way along the windy 23ish mile drive, and it was 4pm, that we’d leave other viewpoints until tomorrow, so we just drove, enjoying the overall views. I did have to stop twice, to allow for big horn sheep grazing next to, and crossing, the road.

After we left the Monument, Andrew took over driving so that I could navigate to our hotel. We were there by 4.45pm and checked in, making our way to our room on the 5th floor. It has a great view, and we can see the Book Cliffs over the top of the hotel opposite.

We headed straight out for dinner, stopping at Pablo’s Pizza, which was on the hotel’s recommended list. It was a bit like Zion Pizza & Noodle in terms of its feel, and there was even a pizza very like the cholesterol hiker pizza, which is Andrew’s favourite. Definitely a win for tonight.

We were going to wander around town to explore further, but when we came out of Pablo’s we discovered it was raining heavily, so we’ve postponed that until tomorrow. Andrew lent me his hat for the walk back, but it was so big that I had to turn it round once in the hotel, so that I could see to get coffee… Anyway, back to the room to relax, blog and sleep.