Dominguez Canyon Wilderness

In our quest to visit new places (even those that are nearby),
we took a drive today to the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness
area. Although it truly is a wilderness, it's only 20 miles or
so south of Grand Junction and the road to the Big Dominguez
Campground is in very good shape for a BLM road. However,
I wouldn't want to drive it in our car on a rainy day since much
of it is very fine dirt that would turn into a quagmire if it got wet.


The Dominguez Canyon Wilderness is the largest BLM roadless area in the state
of Colorado at 66,280 acres. There are two major canyon systems in the
wilderness; The Big Dominguez and Little Dominguez. These two canyons
drain the northeast corner of the Uncompahgre Plateau. There are many
ecosystems here, ranging from upper Sonoran piñon-juniper desert to
Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine to aspen at higher elevations


We followed the road all the way to the Big Dominguez Campground and
although it seemed a bit buggy, it looked like a really isolated, but well
maintained campground. I think we'll probably come here to camp in a
couple of years when we have a four wheel drive vehicle. This time of
year, the monsoons could strand a car there for several days when the
road became too muddy.

Grand Mesa National Forest

We see Grand Mesa every day from Grand Junction but
until now had never taken a drive through this beautiful
part of Colorado.


Water seemed to be one of the themes of the day as we
saw streams and lakes everywhere.


Wildlife was abundant and had very little fear of humans.


Lots of people were out on the many lakes, enjoying
some early autumn fishing.


There were lots of trails that we want to check out and
hike next summer.


Deep thoughts...with Tom Hamann...LOL


There were hillsides at every turn that were on fire with
color.


The views were awesome!


At Land's End one can see all the way to Utah from almost
11,000 feet altitude. That's Grand Junction in the center
of the photo.


These little guys have obviously played the "pose for the
tourist" game before.


Each direction had fantastic views. This is overlooking
the Gunnison River valley and Uncompahgre Plateau to
the southwest.


Somewhere in the middle of this photo is our house!


Even more birds were practically begging to have their
photo taken.


Gold and Green apparently aren't the only fall colors in
Colorado.


Some of the Aspen were holding onto summer and were
stubbornly staying green.


Although it was a bit hazy and warm in the valley (84 degrees),
the air was clear and a crisp 51 degrees on top of the Mesa.
That's what 6000 feet of altitude will do for you!


One of the few buildings at Land's End is the Observatory,
built by the CCC during the Depression by World War I Vets.