[williswall]

I found myself in Fruita to pick up a spare tire for my van (really good deal from the someone on the Solis FaceBook group) so spent two days checking out the nearby Colorado National Monument. This is not a large park but it certainly is dramatic. I hiked two of the trails that basically spanned the width of the park, the upper Liberty Cap trail (which kept me up high) and the next day the Monument Valley trail with a loop through Wedding Canyon and an up close spin around Independence Monument. These trails were about 13 miles RT per day. It's a different world out here, what with me trying to shield myself from the sun and enjoying temperatures in the 70's. I had the upper Liberty Cap trail to myself and people on the Monument trail were mostly clustered close to the lower parking area, so I still had hours of lonely hiking. What wasn't pleasant was the 5 hour drive back after hiking all day, but at least I got to shower, change clothes and get my drink and snack on before hitting the road. We're getting ready to close up shop here in May and I'm looking forward to being back in the NW then for a few months. Cheers!

Wedding Canyon2

View from Wedding Canyon

Tree and light

Towers

Top o the Rock

Top details

Through the Looking Glass

The Overhang

shadows and contrast

Peeling back the outer layer

Monument Valley2

Monument Valley

Ledges4

Ledges3

Independence Ridge

Independence Ridge other side

Independence Monument other side

Independence Monument from above

Independence Monument close2

Independence Monument close

Fruita Valley2

Fruita Valley

Dramatic spires

Base layers Independence Monument

Colorado National Monument 4/1-2/2021 from Willis Wall on Vimeo.

[Brushbuffalo]

Interesting sedimentary rocks there. Indeed, one of the less- visited n.m. in the region. Did you see any rock climbers there? For some of us here in the cloudy PNW, I would welcome all the sun I can get!

[williswall]

[zephyr]

Oh my gosh! Such a beautiful and dramatic landscape. So many fine photos here. That's a whole lot of awesome that you are sharing with us, ww. I like the perspective on these two. ~z

[Matt Lemke]

I recently moved to grand junction a couple months ago. Im excited to have this place literally in my backyard! Nice photos. Fruita is a great town too