Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness (Grand Junction/Fruita Colorado)

Prologue (Day 1)

Recently, I've been on the lookout for snow-free areas to go backpacking and the Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness in the McInnis Canyon National Recreation Area has been near the top of my list.  To get an idea of the snow cover, I'd been tracking the weather reports as well as the webcam in the nearby Colorado National Monument.  It had snowed Monday but it looked like it had mostly melted out by the weekend.  I made the 5.5 hour drive out to the Grand Junction/Fruita area Friday night and camped near the Coal Canyon Trailhead in the Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Area.  This is one of the other areas I've wanted to explore.  I got there well after dark and while it appeared to be snow free I wouldn't know for sure until the morning.  

Day 1

My plan was to start at the Pollock Bench tailhead and head up Flume Canyon, traverse across Glade Park, then head down into Mee Canyon, and finally over to Rattlesnake Arches for a 30 mile loop.  

Map here:  caltopo.com/m/V10R

I ran into a couple hiccups and ultimately decided to save ​the Mee Canyon Alcove and Rattlesnake Arches for a later trip.

Soft sandy trails in the lower canyons.

My first time using running shoe gaiters and I think I'm sold forever. I only had to take my shoes off to dump out dirt/rocks once in two days!

Flume Canyon creek bed.

I decided to take the west fork of Flume Canyon because I'd read online that there was a reasonable way out of the canyon.  As I neared the terminus of the west fork I saw an intimidating vertical headwall directly ahead of me.  I pressed on hoping that a route up a ramp on the western  wall would become obvious as I got closer.  

Headwall at the end of western branch of Flume Canyon. I was hoping that there was a viable route up the western side (upper right of picture).

A bit farther up into the west fork of Flume Canyon

As I got closer to headwall I realized that if there was a way out of the west fork of flume canyon it wasn't near the canyon terminus.  Maybe it was on the ledge system behind me?

I followed this ledge along the western side of the western fork of Flume Canyon for a while looking for a way to the top.

Looking back towards the eastern (left) and western (right) forks of Flume Canyon from the ledge.

Looking backwards out of the eastern fork of Flume Canyon.

Ultimately, I had to admit that the west fork had gotten the best of me.  I never found a easy way out.  I decided to head down and try the east fork.  If that didn't look any better this would be a short out and back.  

In a few more million years this will be an arch.

The east fork probably wins my award for the most hellaciously steep dirt and scree (loose tiny pebbles) I've ever been on.  The closest competition for this title is the valleys on the southern face of Dinosaur Mt in the Flatirons and the base of the southern face of the Mickey Mouse Wall near Eldorado Canyon.  

​Success! (Note that the North/South perspective here is flipped compared to the Google Earth images)

Once I got out of the canyon I realized how the "Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness" must have gotten it's name.  While the lower parts of the canyons were very similar to the the sandy soil in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP, the mesas at the top were covered with a dark soil.  The melting snow had turned them into energy sapping mud.  Ultimately I decided to camp on the crusty snow to avoid it.  

Tent stakes drive into mud really easily...luckily the weather was perfect and there weren't any high winds to really test their holding power.

Looking northeast towards Little Bookcliffs (where I slept my first night in the area)

Looking northwest

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Day 2

My planned route had been more unknown than my usual trips.  Most of it was off trail and I had to admit that I didn't really know if ​I'd find a way out of Mee Canyon to cut over to Rattlesnake Canyon.  My experience in the west fork of Flume Canyon was also prominent in my mind.  At worst I could simply turn around and go back the way I'd come right?  

My route plan also assumed that I'd find water in all of the canyons.  I'd passed a couple of isolated pools of water in Flume Canyon but I hadn't filled up on water when I saw them since I was at near full capacity at the time.  By the morning I was down to less than half a liter and I didn't know if Mee Canyon had water in it.  If I'd brought a stove I could have melted snow but I'd left it at home since I didn't bring food that needed to be cooked.  

The previous evening I'd hopped over a weak stream but avoided it because it was muddy.  Now I didn't really have a choice-it was my best option.  My water filter should in principle get rid of the mud... The next morning however, the snowmelt situation had changed dramatically and this stream was now dry.  I followed it uphill for half a mile or so until I reached what my map indicated was the source.  Now I had no choice but to turn around.  I could eat snow as long as I was up on the mesa but I couldn't risk dropping into another dry canyon.  

Along the Flume Canyon creekbed. It was probably looking for water--same as me.

I'm pretty sure this is a horse. The head was much longer and skinnier than a cow. I suspect bones bleach pretty quickly out here. Maybe this is only a couple years old?

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Drive back home

On the way home I left I-70 and took the Grand Mesa Scenic Bypass for ~10 miles.  

Near the town of Mesa, I took the "De Beque Cut off" back towards I-70.  

It was a short trip with a lot of driving but I'll definitely be back.