So, as some of you know, my boyfriend came to visit last Friday (March 9th). Since we were so busy, I have not been able to blog!! Similar to my trip to Moab, I will be posting separate posts to shorten up the length of the articles. Enjoy!
March 10th:
Jessica, the traveler from Wisconsin, had told me about Rattlesnake Canyon (there are no rattlesnakes, you'll know why it is called that at the end). Online the articles said if you can make through the 4 wheel drive road to the trail head, it is roughly 5 miles. If you cannot make it to that trail head, it is 14 miles. Nicholas and I set out early in the morning to hopefully get to the 5 mile trailhead, then get food and hike somewhere else. Well, our plans changed. After we arrived at what we thought was the right trail and talking to some locals, they said the trailhead is else where.
I called the Colorado National Monument to see if they knew if the road to the 5 mile trail head was open. We found out it is not, so we headed for another hiking place we found spur of the moment online. We couldn't believe our eyes when we got there and saw that this is where the 14 mile hike is to Rattlesnake Canyon.
And of course, we did it.
Mind you, this was Nicholas' first day in Colorado ever! Coming from an elevation in Syracuse, NY of 380 feet to Grand Junction, CO at 4,593 feet, you can get altitude sickness. Thankfully he did not! Woohoo!
A couple camped with their dogs right beneath this arch for the night and said the stars at night here are known to be amazing! After finally having a snack and some water, we hiked back. The trail was pretty steep at times and there were times you had to scale along a rock wall. Nicholas' first hike was successful!
You can kind of see in the picture above why they named it Rattlesnake canyon. It almost looks like a snake slithered through the rocks. Below you can see the view that was behind us and below that is a picture of more arches.
After hiking all day we went to SUDS brewery in Fruita. While we were there, we chatted with the owner who gave us a free growler with whatever beer we wanted. We could not resist the smell of Hot Tomato, so we picked up some pizza to hold us over until we got home.
One of my coworkers brought me bison/buffalo to make burgers and another made Nicholas and I cupcakes! A great meal after hiking 14 miles! We spent the rest of the night hanging out with my neighbors in the apartment next to me who are from California!
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