WEDNESDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2025

(Grand Junction, CO)

7.28am! Woohoo! Andrew woke just 11 minutes later, and decided that I could go and get coffee from the lobby. The tone was accordingly set for a leisurely start, with showers and breakfast at the hotel. The view from the room confirmed blue skies and sunshine, whilst various weather apps coalesced around 20 degrees as the forecast high. Toasty enough, but not as hot as Zion. Once we set off, it was just a 15 minutes drive to the Lower Monument Canyon trailhead.

We got our boots on, packs on, and poles in hand, and set off from the car park. Shortly after that the trail divides into two. We could either go up the Wedding Canyon (primitive trail) or Monument Canyon (maintained trail). Not knowing how ‘primitive’ the former trail would be, we opted for option b. Within a short distance we had seen lizards (we would see many of those along the trail, mostly scuttling away to avoid our boots), blue jays (the silhouette is hard to tell, but the blue was apparent in flight), and a rabbit (spot the ears if you can, as it hid from the camera). There were also numerous butterflies about (clouded sulphur?).

After about half a mile of following alongside fencing, and passing some large houses, the trail turned right, past some golden cottonwood trees, and started to climb up the canyon. Although the air temperature was pleasantly cool, the direct sun was hot. We both put sun shirts on, which helped, maintained an easy pace, and stopped for a break whenever there was any shade, which frankly wasn’t very often. Occasionally a juniper bush was tall enough to shade us, so progress tended to be made from tree to tree. 

Slow and steady wins the day though, and we reached the base of Independence Monument. 

We ate our lunch bars and then got ready to leave, only to spot big horned sheep coming around the end of the canyon wall. There were six of them, seemingly as curious about us as we were about them. There were a lot more sure footed as they navigated the scree slope than we would be, though.

After that we headed back down the same canyon. There had been people out and about in the morning, most of whom appeared to be locals but by now, there weren’t many people. One local did stop to talk to us on the way down and showed us a video of the sheep from a few weeks ago, when they were rutting. The clash of horns sounded like a gun shot as it echoed around the canyons. She did this walk every day and referred to them as ‘her sheep’.

It was a beautiful walk, but by the time we got back to the car we had certainly done enough.

We drove to Walmart to pick up a few things on the way back to the hotel, and then relaxed with a beer, crisps and cookies. Our dinner place tonight was the Rockslide Brew company, for burgers. On our way there we passed a huge truck, which would make our car seem small. The brewery provided samples of the beer before you choose – I promise Andrew’s beer wasn’t that small. It was 8.30 p.m. by the time we got back to the hotel, and I think we’re just about on the right time zone now.

Today’s video is here: https://vimeo.com/1134093977