Medicine Bow Peak Trail, Medicine Bow National Forest, July 2022 As 2022 draws to an end, it is—as per tradition—time to look back on the year at Live and Let Hike. This is the ninth year of the blog—the tenth anniversary coming in 2023—and there was no let-up in content, as I published 68 entries, …
Harpers Corner Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Following a pinyon- and juniper-studded ridgeline out to its terminus, the Harpers Corner Trail features stunning panoramic vistas high above canyon country in Colorado/Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument. The landscape below, cut and eroded by the Green and Yampa Rivers, spans millions of years of geologic time, from …
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Mitten Park Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Situated just north of Echo Park on the Colorado side of Dinosaur National Monument, a sudden break in the cream-colored Weber sandstone produces a multi-hued swirl of color—a peculiar twisting formation where the horizontal shelves suddenly thrust upward into vertical stripes, culminating in one of the area’s …
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Steamboat Rock, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Roughly straddling the border between Utah and Colorado, Echo Park Road extends 12 miles and connects the paved Harpers Corner Road with its namesake Echo Park—a hidden flat near the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers in Dinosaur National Monument. Here travelers will find a campground and …
Carpenter Peak, Roxborough State Park The primary attraction of Roxborough State Park—situated at the edge of the Front Range to the southwest of Denver, Colorado—is a stunning collection of red-hued sandstone outcrops, rising from the earth at a roughly 60 degree angle and stretching for more than two miles north to south. Here the slanted …
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Crown Lake, Hoover Wilderness, July 2020 Well, what a strange year it has been. In the early days of 2020, it was hard to imagine that, by March, much of the world would be dealing with a global pandemic that would take the lives of millions and usher in lockdowns, mask mandates, and economic recessions. …
Dinosaur Hill Trail, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, September 2020 In western Colorado’s Grand Valley, between the modest town of Fruita and splendid Colorado National Monument, lies one of the most famous dinosaur dig sites in the United States. It was here in 1901, on a multi-hued hill composed of rock of the Morrison formation, …
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Otto's Trail, Colorado National Monument, September 2020 Otto’s Trail is a short and easy hike ending at a scenic viewpoint overlooking Wedding Canyon and Monument Canyon in Colorado National Monument, an excellent park on the edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau overlooking Grand Junction, Colorado. The fine stroll descends gradually from Rim Rock Drive, working out …
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Colorado National Monument, September 2020 Colorado National Monument—named for the river, not the state—is a marvel of winding canyons, prominent spires, and multi-hued cliffs, Colorado’s closest rival to the canyon parks of Utah, such as Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef. Here the power of erosion has carved deep gorges in the eastern flank of the …
Moderate hike to Browns Creek Falls in the Collegiate Peaks area near Salida.
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