Green knoll in RMNP

My father-inlaw, Dave and I took the morning and banged out a quick tour at the edge of Rocky Mountain national park. I felt like this was a pretty scenic tour - one of the prettiest I've ever experienced. Too bad my phone's screen went into "Thou shall not pass" mode and completely blacked me out. Most photo credits go to dave on this one.

The view of the trip as seen from trail ridge road.

Me, Brian, at the top.

I'm digging a snowpit, and evaluating the pack as "pretty stable" but deviating if any slide steps down into the interior layers.

Dave, fiddling with his phone as we gain elevation over the Colorado River meadow.

Panorama. 

Here I am.

A view from the top of the Green Knoll.

Dave, sporting eagles wings.

Strava capture.

6" is not quite #RomanianDumpage

The latest quick hitting storm appeared to have deposited 5-6" of fresh in the cottonwoods. Accordingly, the utah transplants went out for a quick Saturday tour. We chose to get into banana days from the big cottonwood side.

A brief stop over for a beacon search.

A view looking up. #nofilters.

The struggle near the ridgeline. 

Utah Transplants make the ridgeline.

The 6" or so provided some low density fluff to cover the rocks below. Upon descent, we found most of them. Undeterred, we finished the run then skied out back down the skin track. Job well done.

Turkey Weekend - Palisade, Colorado

We went to Palisade, CO near Grand Junction for Thanksgiving with Jamie and Cal.

It was awesome. We may have a new Moab.

Rabbit Valley - peaceful on a Thanksgiving evening - likely roaring with ATVs at other times

We brought bikes as the primary means of fun - but it ended up snowing for half of the trip and turning the trails into a muddy mess.

The Farmhouse that we rented on VRBO was incredible. Cheap, cozy, spacious and accommodating. It was located in Palisade and was close to all of the orchards, 20+ vineyards, distillery, brewery, and cider house.

The Ribbon Trail - high above Grand Junction

Our favorite winery:

https://www.canyonwindcellars.com/

It snowed on us Friday night and cancelled our biking plans - so we spent time hiking in the Colorado National Monument. We still managed one bike ride along the road of orchards and vineyards above the Colorado River.

Monument Overlook

The farmhouse had a fantastic literature and music collection. Jamie and Cal cooked incredible dinners and we were able to relax after dark in the comfort of a warm house instead of a frigid tent.

I am going to post the VRBO - to help convince friends and family that we should return soon.

https://www.vrbo.com/476583

Pinyons in the snow - entrance to Monument Canyon

Headed up Monument Canyon

Beautiful Monument Canyon Sunrise