Horsethief Canyon State Wildlife Area

 This is about a mile beyond the Pollock Bench trailhead at McInnis Canyons. A nice piece of land on the river. Probably a very nice place to walk in the Spring.

McInnis Canyons - Flume 1

 

Grand Mesa Nordic

 Hard not to go back to this place! Today I explored around Sunset and Summit trails. These are both close to the top of a cliff and views into the valley. You need to ski off the trail to get to the views and edge. I went out in a number of places. There is also some steep skiing near this edge. After that I skied some of the groomers in this area. All good!

Old existing warming hut:

New building under construction:

Grand Mesa - Lakes Area

 Cross country skiing today in the Mesa Lakes area. I parked at a small lot that is right off the road about four miles before Grand Mesa Nordic. I first went behind the Mesa Lakes Ranger Station which is below the first large lake you get to. This trail isn't used much and it looked like I was the first skier since the snow. It is a fairly consistent downhill near the river with some steeper areas. I came back up this trail and then went around the dam to the West Branch Trail. I took this out to the top of Powder Horn and a little beyond. This trail has some small ups and downs. Mainly cruising in the forest with a few lake crossings. Very nice area! Across the street from the parking area is another area of trails to check out some day.

Old Gordon Trail

 This is a 6+ mile RT hike from the Devils Kitchen area. It isn't all that exciting compared to other hikes in this area. It goes steadily up and you have some good views down into the valley. You can see to Palisade as Mt Garfield is in the view at one point. Only about .5 miles from the parking lot you can head off the trail for a little bit and get to some interesting petroglyphs. It was a cloud and sun day. Sometimes the clouds are welcome as it gets pretty warm with the sun reflecting off the snow.