Have you ever had a place that you’ve wanted to go explore, tried, multiple times, but it just keeps alluding you? Well that place for me, until recently, was Mee Canyon. Located in the McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area on the Western Slope of Colorado this gem of Colorado is as close to Utah you can get without being in Utah. Due to weather, poor planning on my part, and not being fully prepared when actually hiking in and having to turn back, I was beginning to think I’d never get there.

Back at the trailhead, determined to finish this hike.

Until recently. The weather had finally decided to cooperate and I saw a couple day window that looked quite promising. Luckily, it also coincided with my friend Pat and his girlfriend Katie’s days off and were willing to join me.

The night before I was getting really antsy. I kept reorganizing my gear in front of me to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. I’ve become a legend of sorts among my friends for forgetting things on trips such as camp chairs, extra socks, stove fuel, etc. Since I would be leading this little expedition, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. I think I had something charging in every outlet in our place between my GPS and camera gear.

After finally getting some sleep and having some breakfast, Pat and Katie showed up and we started the drive down to Grand Junction. From our place to the trailhead is about a 3-hour dive through some insanely beautiful parts of Colorado. As you get on I-70 in Gypsum and head west within 10 minutes you’re in Glenwood Canyon, one of the most dramatic sections of interstate you can find in the US. The freeway follows the Colorado river as it cascades down through the canyon.

Even the Claret Cups cactus were showing their true colors.

If Glenwood Canyon wasn’t enough, the final stretch before we got to the trailhead is driving through Colorado National Monument, with the Rimrock Road climbing to the top of 500-foot walls. The views are truly spectacular! It’s easy to see why people have lived around there for 13,000 years.

As we got closer to the trail head the road flattens out as you drive across the top of the mesa. As we drove past little drop offs in the rim, we could see all the way down to Grand Junction, and the road seemed very familiar. Once we got to the trailhead, it all looked the way it did a couple of years earlier when Lauren and I had attempted it but decided to turn back because we were needing to get back to Vail and misjudged the time. During that first attempt though I was able to find a spot that I wanted to come back to and camp.

Descending down into the canyon. Thanks for the ladder BLM.

The hike into Mee Canyon is to see the giant alcove that has been slowly carved out by the small creek running through it. It’s a 2.9-mile trek down to the canyon from the trailhead, and our camp was about 2 miles in overlooking the creek below. One thing was for certain, I’d be hard pressed to remember a time I’ve seen the desert this green. The smell of sage and juniper wafted through the air. While the hills sloping down towards the canyon were covered in wildflowers. Meadows of White Stemmed Evening Primrose greeted us at the start, giving way to Yucca plants blooming amongst the rocky trail.

Once we got to the part of the trail where we were planning on camping, we took a minute to unload our packs and set up camp. Not having to carry the unnecessary weight down into the alcove and back up was a no brainer. With our packs unloaded we made our way back to the rim and climbed down. En route down to the alcove you have to cross over a ledge that leaves little room for error. Just the kind of feature to keep a hike a little spicy.

As we got down to the canyon bottom and headed up stream, I felt as if I were in a jungle with all the tall grasses and trees with full canopies keeping us cool. We followed the stream for about 8 minutes before we looked up and saw it: the massive alcove. The pictures didn’t do it justice, it is absolutely huge! As you walk in, you see exactly how it was formed. The creek, over time has slowly hollowed out the alcove as it creeps further and further into the sandstone walls, over 400 feet back.

Even though it was still quite light outside, in the back of the alcove headlamps were helpful to move amongst the rocks. As we got to the top of the mound that has formed diverting the creek, we really got a sense of scale, of not just the sheer size of the alcove, but of the amount of time it took to make.

The sheer size of this alcove is absolutely mind boggling.

The texture, the size, the space, this place is absolutely stunning.

Looking back down on the creek 40-50 feet below us on our rubble perch, we felt the breeze flowing through the canyon and just enjoyed the fact that we had the place to ourselves. Finding solitude in the desert is the best way to recharge the soul. By the time we turned back towards camp, my batteries were recharged. Which was good, because carrying all my camera gear was exhausting.

We started climbing back out of the canyon so we could make it back to camp by sunset. The clouds were beginning to light up right as we climbed over the rim and got back to camp. Luckily, we had front row seats to a gorgeous sunset over the canyons that lay out in front of us. As we hung out on the rim and watched the sun drift downward through the layers of clouds, the bird's calls were echoing off the walls of the canyon it made the words of Edward Abbey ring even more true “Wilderness. The world itself is music.”

Climbing back out to take in the view before dark.

Once the songs of sunset had faded, we wandered back to camp to eat some food and wait for the stars to come out. We talked around the fire and hung out for a bit before Katie and Pat said they were going to head to bed. This was just about the time I was going to start shooting some star shots. I had a feeling that if I asked for their help, I may be able to get them to stay up a bit longer. Having camped with them before, and shot astro photos around them on those trips, I knew they get excited when the night sky pops up on the back of the camera. Well turns out, I was right. I asked Pat to hit the shutter for me after I had set up the camera but wanted a person in it.

Pat started directing me in the shots and it was really cool to hear his excitement when they would show up on the screen. That’s one of the reasons I love night photography, you have those few moments where your camera is processing where you’re not sure how the shot is going to show up. Then the moment happens when it comes up on the screen and you can see the night sky in a way you haven’t before. It’s such a rewarding feeling and worth the loss of sleep.

We shot for a little over an hour and then realized it was getting really late and we had to get up really early and start hiking to get Pat back for work early the next afternoon. We decided earlier in the night that when we went to bed, we would take off the rain fly of our tent so we could see the stars as we drift to sleep.

As we all crawled into the tent and were getting comfortable, we felt the first drop... We quickly got out of the tent as it started to rain, first just a couple drops and then a bit steadier. We couldn’t help but laugh as we struggled to get the fly back on correctly, the same fly we had just taken off no more than 10 minutes before.

The next morning, I struggled to wake up and drag myself out of the tent for sunrise. I managed to get to the rim to watch the light slowly creep down the canyon walls. I took a couple of pictures but wasn’t running around crazy trying to get a shot, I decided to just enjoy this moment and the wild place I was at.

Once the sun came up, we quickly packed up camp and headed back towards the truck. It wasn’t long after we started hiking that I began to realize how much elevation we had lost the day before. I also realized I may be out of shape. Slowly we climbed out passing the familiar wildflowers en route to the gate that marked the trailhead. Closing the gate behind me as I walked through, I couldn’t help but let a smile come across my face, I could finally cross this spot of my list. Now, I can’t wait to go back.

Trip Report: Finding Mee... Canyon

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