Camping, Hiking, Canoeing w/ Josh, Gabe & Alex

As we wind down our stay in Colorado the goal is to go out with a bang and we certainly did this past week.

Homeboy Josh came through on Tuesday night staying to Saturday and Gabe & Alex came through Thursday night sticking around until Monday. Naturally we got as much in as possible. Only ill shit (inside joke).

Here’s the kicker, Amy had no idea Gabe and Alex were coming so there was elaborate scheming taking place in preparation.

Once the word was out Amy and Alex spent Thursday and Friday in Palisade.

The men rode out to Utah to camp in the Goblin Valley area Thursday night. We drove out to Behind the Reef Road (off Temple Mountain Rd. past Goblin Valley Rd.) where there were multiple dispersed camping spots in the middle of nowhere; we were completely secluded!

On Friday the men rolled out to see Goblin Valley and then hit Arches National Park for a few hours on the way back to Palisade.

Ohhh but they day wasn’t over yet. The crew (Amy, Alex, Mark, Josh, Gabe) rallied back in Palisade and geared up for a night on the town with “the trifecta” being the ultimate goal. The trifecta is when you start a night out at the Brewery, move on to the Peach Street Distillers (the Still) and end at the Livery where the locals are surprisingly good at Karaoke.

No pictures from that night, but we want everyone to know that Josh got up there and did his thing on the mic.

Awesome night!

Saturday morning came quickly and we all loaded up to ride Josh out to the airport. After dropping him off the remaining crew headed into Junction and ate a solid brunch at Bin 707.

With bellies full we cruised back to Palisade to get ready for an afternoon in Grand Mesa canoeing around Island Lake.

A nice relaxing day is what we all needed before Sundays hike.

Yes, this is all in less than a week’s time! AND there is NO way Gabe and Alex come to Colorado and not see peaks!

We decided to hike to Geneva Lake.

This is a 4.2 mile round trip hike that elevates 1,300 ft taking us to about 11,000 ft. The trail was relatively secluded because of the super-intense 7 mile off-road trail that leads to the trailhead. Now that we’re all done with that ride, it’s safe to say I nearly shat my pants.

Well the ride was worth it – have a look:

The way down:

Someone’s having fun:

But wait! We’re not done with the awesomeness. Riding to the trailhead we passed through this tiny, in-the-middle-of-nowhere town called Marble where we saw a LEGIT BBQ spot. Dinner debate was instantly over; after hiking we would dine at Slow Groovin BBQ.