It was our first hike of the season and we got a trifecta of weather: rain, hail, thunder and got to witness many things that few get to see: waterfalls and flash flooding in the Colorado National Monument . As you all know, Colorado has been inundated with rain. Grand Junction, where we are, has been spared much of the deluge but we have had our share. It has been raining on and off for about 5 days now. But, today, it started sunny and bright and, even though rain was predicted, we thought we’d take advantage of the fine weather for a hike. We actually had started out at a local restaurant for breakfast but, when we were done, we scurried back to the RV, got our packs ready, changed and headed off for the Monument.
It was a beautiful drive up to it and through the first series of switchbacks to the top of the canyon. The original road, built between 1912 and 1921 was a dirt road hand carved out of the rock by John Otto and, with 54 switchbacks, it was nicknamed the ‘Crookedest Road in the World.’ It was so steep that the old model T’s, which lacked fuel pumps, had to climb it backwards to that the gas could reach the tank by gravity.
54 switch backs in 2 1/2 miles?
up a dirt road?
backwards?
Nerves of steel those drivers. 1961 Rim Rock Drive was built and the old road became Serpent’s Trail, climbing 770’ in 1.75 miles. Sounds like a challenge for us and we’ve got it planned. Rim Rock Drive is 23 miles long but only 8 miles from beginning to end as the crow flies.
The Monument owes its existence to John Otto who saw the beauty of this canyon and said in 1907: 'I’m going to stay and promote this place because it should be a national park.’ And, by hand he began to build a road into the monument so that others might come into the monument to enjoy and appreciate its beauty. Soon others saw his vision, and, with civic pride, the citizens of Grand Junction began to deluge politicians in Washington to make this a national park. In 1911 it was declared the Colorado National Monument.
He also wanted to climb one of the signature rock monoliths in the park and took weeks to drill holes for pipes to help him in his climb Finally on July 4, 1911, he reached the top and planted the US Flag. It is now a tradition in Grand Junction and people still climb on the 4th to plant a flag. Here is Independence Rock in Monument Canyon.
A sad story about Otto, he married an artist named Beatrice Farnham at the bottom of Independence Rock but the marriage didn’t last longer than a few weeks since, as she said, he insisted on living in a tent near his flocks.
Rim Rock Drive at the top of the canyon is an engineering marvel and a beautiful drive to take, all the way through the Monument. There are many scenic views along the road for you to look into the canyons that form the park. The rocks are the reddish hue that is so common in this area and that I just think is beautiful. The Monument is formed of several deep canyons branching off of each other with many monolithic individual rock forms standing high above the canyon floor. From the road, one can see these fascinating rock sculptures, the green carpet of the valley below, the reddish hues of the surrounding canyon walls and the Grand Junction valley beyond. In the distance, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world: Grand Mesa. But, my words can’t describe the stunning beauty of this Monument. Here are some pictures.
But, what about the rain and the hail and the falls, you ask. Well, that only happened when we decided to hike down into the Monument and found a trail that went down into the main valley. As we hiked down, we met a group of 3 teachers and about 15 middle-school kids from Boulder who were having a week of wilderness experience camping in the Monument campground. (Now, I’m from Iowa and we got to visit a farm for a day. Why couldn’t I have been born in Colorado?) They were in an archway eating lunch. We talked a bit, passed them and hiked into the valley. We noticed the clouds coming but through they might skirt to our east. Nope, they aimed right for us. A deluge.
We got out our dry bag and put the camera, our watches and our phone in it. We got out out ponchos and put them around us and our packs and began to hike out. (Gary thinks that everyone looks dorky in a poncho, not just him.)
Well, just as is happening in eastern CO, the rains were so heavy that rushing creeks were forming where before was dry soil. The creeks got larger as the rain pelted down. Oh, yes, did I mention the hail? Sure enough, hail. Small little white balls pelting down on us. We had our heads down, our packs dry, but our shorts, legs, shoes and socks were soaked. Water was rushing down and puddling in the trail. I straddled the trail as I walked out. We were able to leap over several swollen creek beds and hop from boulder to boulder through another but then we hit a 10’ wide raging torrent of muddy water. Note the trail on the other side pictured below.
By this time the rain has stopped and we have put our ponchos out to dry. Then we noticed the water falls coming off the slopes or the cliffs above us. Beautiful. How many have seen a flash flood and waterfalls in the CO Monument? Very few. And they were an awesome sight.
Hey, there are the kids on the other side of the stream. As the stream decreased and slowed we all realized that we could walk through it. Their teachers asked if they wanted to get their feet wet and every hand raised with a resounding ‘yes.’ We crossed to their side to climb back out of the valley and they crossed to our side to continue their hike to the place where their bus was to meet them.
But what an example of the forces that created this canyon. The power of the water over thousands of centuries to carve these canyons out of the high mesa above is truly stunning. But this power was academic for us, we saw it in such small scale and it didn't affect us. It is very real and on a much larger scale to those in eastern Colorado who have been affected in so many ways by these storms. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those who have lost so much over the last few days. On the other hand, the Red Cross of Boulder could use my donation more than my heart and thoughts.
We then continued on Rim Rock Drive, taking in every scenic view and hike along the rim. We stopped at the Visitor Center, took another hike along the rim and called it a day. It was 7:00 and we had eaten cereal for breakfast, 2 protein bars during the hike but nothing else. We were hungry and found a restaurant as we journeyed back to our campground.
I always look for a WOW factor in a hike and this park furnished the WOW factor in many ways. But the storm and the ensuing flash floods and waterfalls just added to the WOW. Were we and the kids in any danger? Not really. The road was only a short ways up the hill, the valley was extremely wide and there was lots of higher ground. And, that raging torrent? It was really only 8’ wide and 6” deep by the time we crossed. The kids walked two by two and their 3 teachers held on to them as they crossed. Did we all get out boots wet? Hey, we’re hiking.
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