Lunch on Grand Mesa (6-29-08)

[IntrepidXJ]

For lunch today, Amanda and I decided to head up on top of Grand Mesa. I thought it would be a good idea to check out Lands End Road.

After gassing up, we headed towards Grand Mesa.

Soon the pavement ended and we started the climb up Lands End Road

Lands End Road is a nice easy gravel road the whole way, and consists of a lot of switchbacks as it ascends Grand Mesa.

A few of the switchbacks

When we reached the top, we stopped by the observatory located there. It doesn't open until July, so we only checked out the views from the top of the mesa. While taking in the views, Amanda made a new friend

From there, we checked out a two-track that was supposed to lead to a nice overlook. However, turned out it was gated closed further on.

We turned around and started looking for a good place to stop for lunch. We ended up stopping by the Anderson Reservoirs.

Anderson Reservoir #1

Where we ate lunch next to Anderson Reservoir #2

Unfortunately, there ended up being a ton of bugs and mosquitoes flying around, so we quickly ate, checked out the lake and headed out of there. We finished up by making our way to Highway 65 and taking it back down the mesa.

Full gallery can be found here: http://www.myxj.net/g2/v/2008trips/grand_mesa_6-29-08/

 

[Maximus Ram]

Nice pics...looks like it was a beautiful day for a drive.
:safari-rig:

 

[Paul R]

Great pics the one of the "new friend" is great! I can never get close enough to get a decent shot...

 

[kcowyo]

That's a great area. I spent a night in a tent up there once on a cliff overlooking the 'Junc." Great views at night.

Very nice to see you out and enjoying your new area so much. Must make the move well worth it. Thanks for always remembering to share it here with us.


:beer:

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I took this panorama picture from an overlook on the top of Grand Mesa. You can see a number of the switchbacks of Lands End Road, the Grand Valley and even the Uncompahgre Plateau across the way. If you look really closely at the large version, you can also see the top of Mount Garfield poking out next to the mesa.




You can click on the image above for the full sized version, but we warned, it is a very large file and will take a few minutes to download.