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Finishing What I Started: Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, April 21-23


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Home Forums Campfire Member Trip Reports Finishing What I Started: Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness, April 21-23

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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  • #1289519
    Brendan Swihart
    BPL Member

    @brendans

    Locale: Fruita CO

    Background: I first attempted this trip last November, when I had to bail due to slick, sticky clay mud making walking a quite arduous activity. The route: leave from Pollock Bench Trailhead, which is about a five minute drive from my house, hike up and out of Flume Canyon, cross Glade Park, drop into Jones Canyon, hike along the Colorado to Mee Canyon, up Mee, down Rattlesnake canyon back to the trailhead. Depending on how things were going, I'd also add in Knowles.

    In addition to the November trip, I spent a snowy late December weekend exploring the rims of the forks of Jones Canyon looking for a route in. The two spots that I had identified as possibilities from maps and satellite images ended up not being possibilites, but on the last day on my way back to my truck I found a route down.

    I knew this would be a difficult trip: I had Saturday, Sunday and Monday until 11am to do over 70 miles (more if I decided to add Knowles), probably half them off-trail. Temps were forecasted to climb as high as 90 degrees, and with one of the dryest springs on record, I knew that water would be a problem in sections.

    The route out of Flume Canyon follows a ledge along the canyon wall to the head of the canyon.
    1

    Lots of fine soil crusts in the area.asd

    Despite the dry winter and spring, there was still a lot blooming, like this twistflowerasdasd

    One of the best parts of this hike was the huge variation in geology and flora. After climbing out of Flume and on my way up to Black Ridge, I passed through these colorful sections of clay hills.sdlafkj

    Next was following elk trails through Pinyon Juniper forest.sldkjf

    …and a snack break on top of Black Ridge.slkdjfs

    Next was crossing Glade Park over to the top of Jones Canyon. I knew that this section would most likely be dry, but that I would pass a stock pond along the way If I needed water. At its best, it was sage brush as far as the eye could see; at its worst, several miles of road walking and cattle.sa

    This pothole near the top of Knowles Canyon saved me from the stock pond. I was grateful. A couple miles past this while walking along an old road, I passed another woman backpacking who said that she had gone down Knowles Canyon and it was totally dry. I found this a little hard to believe, even in a dry year, but decided that it was not worth the risk to add it into my trip. lskdjfs

    Ipomopsis aggregatakhj

    I made it to the bottom of Jones Canyon at the hottest part of the afternoon. Water and the cool shade of the cottonwoods and canyon walls refreshed and rejuvenated.b

    Much of Jones was a bushwack through thick willows with a constant chorus of canyon tree frogs.asldf

    Further down, the canyon floor was covered in bear and mountain lion prints. The mountain lion wasn't surprising, but I hadn't seen signs of bear in any of these canyons before.sdf

    Finally cooling down as the sun drops…asdfsa

    Eriogonum inflatumlsdkfj

    This was definitely a trip of contrasts. Most of Jones Canyon is one of those places that it feels totally feasible that no human has walked there in decades (or much more). There are no trails into the canyon from the top and private property near its terminus at the river makes a trip up from the river tedious (all BLM literature that I've seen actually says that it's impossible to get into Jones from the bottom…). Anything that could be considered canyon walls end a couple miles or so away from the river. I followed the private property line for a few miles until it ended at the river. This section was a bit jolting after the pristine wilderness of Jones Canyon. The entire area (including miles into the wilderness area) was totally destroyed by cattle. In many areas there was zero vegetation–just bare ground and cow pies. You could not tell the difference between inside the private ranch fence and two miles+ into the wilderness area. Next up was following the river for a while. Routefinding here was tricky. Travel down near the river is next to impossible in areas due to brush and canyon walls. There are bighorn and deer trails as well the river canyon rim that can be followed, but if you stay too high you risk impassible cliffs and lots of backtracking.sldkfjs

    Sometimes you don't have much choice but walking in the water along the side. In an unexpected bit of luck, the river was only running at about 2000 cfs and I was able to cross in slow, knee deep water for easier traveling on the other side. More civilization:asldkjf

    I crossed back at Knowles Canyon and sat here for some lunch while river floaters asked if everything was okay and looked at me like I was crazy when they learned I was on foot.asdfsd

    Unfortunately, at the last crossing I neglected to take my steripen out of my outside pocket and got nothing when I tried to purify some water. I had some backup micropur tablets but for river water I felt it needed more than the 15 minutes that would otherwise be fine. I boiled up a quick liter, added a couple nuun tabs (with another liter on deck with the micropur) and headed on. Nothin like some piping hot lemon lime when it's pushing 90. The section between Knowles and Mee was easier routefinding along game trails, but was still tedious with lots of up and down and lots of sand. I stopped for a cool down dip at Black Rocks.
    ldsfjsdf

    The going was much easier once I headed up Mee. The lower part has some impressive spires.sdfsdsldkfjssdf

    The upper half is deep, lush, and wet with big alcoves, caves, and arches.qe

    Right before exiting the canyon I ran into another backpacker who had come down Knowles the previous day. I asked him about water and he said that there was plenty the entire length of the canyon (which I would have expected this time of year). I'm not sure if the woman I'd seen the previous day wasn't where she thought she was or what, but it was pretty strange. I climbed out of the canyon that evening and camped at the rim. Dawn coffee:ppp

    The next morning I had about 10 miles to go and finished late morning. Overlooking Rattlesnake Canyon:sdkfhasd

    Despite the preparation and anticipation for this trip (and despite the heat, some tricky routefinding, and inconvenience of broken steripen), the trip seemed strangely painless and enjoyable. Just backpacking, which I love.

    Gear:
    worn-
    Arcteryx Motus SS (first trip with this…very impressed)
    Patagonia Long Hauler shorts (love em)
    Patagonia Ultra lightweight merino 1/4 socks (proving to be more durable than darn toughs)
    OR Swift cap+bandana (worked)
    Cheap shades (worked)
    Inov8 Roclite 295 (like em ok but the toebox is too tall for me. Had some blisterage on my toes.)

    carried-
    MYOG pack (new one…separate post later)
    MYOG 2.5oz Apex quilt (barely warm enough at night with the rest of my clothes…probably should have brought my down quilt)
    MYOG down jacket
    cap 2 bottoms
    Houdini
    short ridgerest (love the convenience but I really sleep better with my neoair)
    xtra pair of paty UL socks
    MYOG poles
    canon s90
    steripen opti
    1L nalgene HDPE
    2L Platy bottle
    MSR titan kettle
    Snow peak giga ti stove (nice for quick easy coffee in the mornings)
    bag of toothbrush/meds/sunscreen etc
    maps (printed from hillmap.com)
    Brunton 9020g compass

    #1874239
    Adan Lopez
    Spectator

    @lopez

    Locale: San Gabriel Valley

    Absolutely stunning. Hadn't heard of the place, thanks for stoking the fire.

    #1874276
    Ike Jutkowitz
    BPL Member

    @ike

    Locale: Central Michigan

    Amazing photos and trip details. These are the kinds of reports I love.
    Thanks for posting.

    #1875183
    Brendan Swihart
    BPL Member

    @brendans

    Locale: Fruita CO

    Thanks for the kind words…

    #1875223
    Alex H
    BPL Member

    @abhitt

    Locale: southern appalachians or desert SW

    Beautiful stuff brendan, thank!

    #1875265
    Eugene Smith
    BPL Member

    @eugeneius

    Locale: Nuevo Mexico

    Ahhhh, Brendan, great words and visuals holmes.

    #1875756
    Kyle Crawford
    Spectator

    @getupandgo

    Locale: SouthEast

    Great pictures, Brendan. Makes me wanna visit the area.

    #1876929
    Tim Drescher
    BPL Member

    @timdcy

    Locale: Gore Range

    Brendan,

    Great report!

    I did a group float trip from Fruita to Westwater about a month ago and we hiked up Rattlesnake and Knowles Canyons for several miles… it certainly made me wish I had my backpack on.

    It’s hard to find much evidence of many people being back there, even within a few miles of the Rattlesnake and Knowles campsites, where I did most of my exploring. You’ve inspired me to check it out further!

    #3519351
    Travis B
    BPL Member

    @drotar447

    Nice trip report.  Did you head out of the eastern or western fork of Flume Canyon?

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