Glorious day on the Grand Mesa!
Two feet of snow in the last few days with 4 inches last night. Great winter day today! 10 degrees when I arrived and 20 when I left four hours later. I wasn't expecting more skiing this year and definitely wasn't expecting anything this good.
AM river walk with some fog which you don't see often here. Thunderstorms and rain yesterday with some light hail. It snowed over a foot up at the Grand Mesa.
It is probably early for Spring but there have been significantly above normal temperatures all winter. It hasn't rained in weeks but the desert plants seem to know how to handle that. I went to McInnis Canyons, 5 miles from the house, and hiked trail D7 and looped back on D5. Lots of different flowers including cactus flowers.
Both of these trails are at the Bangs Canyon trailhead. They are both named appropriately. The Mica Mine trail is easy and short and goes up stream in the canyon. The Rough Canyon goes down stream in the same canyon. Longer and much, well, rougher. Lots of steep canyon walls and rocks to negotiate. The Rough Canyon hike ends at what is at some points a waterfall. Not today! I went to the Mica Mine first and Rough Canyon second.
