One hour or 46 Miles Away: Grand Mesa
We have breathtaking views of the Grand Mesa from our property both from the main house as well as from Posh Cottage, or what will be Posh Cottage when it is completed. In fact, I intentionally positioned the cottage the way I did with this view in mind.
Located one hour away (or 46 miles), the Grand Mesa is the largest flat-topped mountain (aka Mesa) in the world! It stretches about 500 square miles. The mesa rises about 6,000 feet above the surrounding river valleys, including the Grand Valley where Palisade is located, and reaches an overall elevation of about 11,000 feet. There are over 300 lakes, including many reservoirs on the Grand Mesa and much of it is within the Grand Mesa National Forest. As you can imagine The Mesa lends itself to numerous outdoor activities including hiking, camping, fishing, and mountain biking in the summer and fall months. During the winter there is sledding, snow shoeing and both downhill and cross-country skiing.
Recently Andy and I, along with our friend Laurie, took a Saturday off to go cross country skiing on the Grand Mesa. This was Laurie’s first-time cross-country skiing and Andy, and I were a little rusty, so we opted for an easier trail called County Line. Although we did not bring Daisy or Molly, dogs are allowed on this trail. The ski trails on County Line were beautifully groomed with two tracks to one side and a wider track that allowed for skate skiers as well as snowshoes. We headed out about 9:30 am with very little traffic up the Mesa. Arriving at around 10:30 the parking area wasn’t overly full and there weren’t too many people on the trails, perfect setting for a novice and two out of practice skiers!
The sky was blue with no clouds and the lodge pole pines towered over head on either side of us! It was gorgeous! The snow was pristine, and it was wide open space as far as the eye could see! It was pure heaven, and I would highly recommend it. If you don’t have skis, you can rent them at our local Grand Junction REI.
After we finished skiing the trail, we decided to continue over the Mesa to Cedar Ridge and stopped off at Stoney Mesa Winery to part take in a little wine tasting before we headed back to Palisade. It made for a little longer drive back but the views of the other side of the Mesa were equally beautiful and the drive back was great, with little traffic. All in all, it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday! I’m looking forward to skiing again as well as visiting our beautiful Grand Mesa during the summer, perhaps doing some hiking followed by a picnic, or a weekend camping trip by one of the multitude of lakes!
