Landscape Photography in Colorado National Monument

roadtrip

Let new adventures begin! Off on another road trip, this time with Grady, Brody, and our friends, Eric, & Sepp. Headed to the Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction, CO for a 2 day, one night camping trip. First time for most of us having been there, we didn’t know much about it, only heard a few things, including how amazing the scenery was.  As a photography interested in landscape photography, I knew this was going to be epic.

The road trip down there was half the fun! Jamming to our favorite music and eating snacks, excited to get to the campsite, we all were stoked.

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The drive through the national park is BEAUTIFUL! The views literally take your breath away. You drive along a cliff wall for most the time, with lots of opportunity’s to pull off and view, sit, take pictures, climb and hike.

camp

When we got to our campsite at the Saddlehorn Campground, we set up our tents quick so we could spend the rest of the daylight hiking. We finished pretty fast and went out to find a good spot to watch the sunset. To get to a high point we had to go off trail. Far above the road, cars would drive slow trying to figure out how we got up there.

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Although it was to cloudy to see the sunset we got this amazing view, where Sepp and Brody sat and stared in amazement.  You realize here how small you really are!

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Eric throws a back-flip on a cliff ledge.

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View from Otto’s Trail overlooking Fruita, CO.

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Independence Monument. The coolest site in the monument, makes for some great landscape photographs!

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During the night it was too cloudy to see any stars but when I woke up at 6AM for the sunrise the sky was clear. The stars were so pretty.

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I woke the guys up at 6:30 and we all hiked in our pajamas up the Saddlehorn rock.

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As always it’s nearly impossible to be disappointed in a Colorado sunrise!! It was a great way to start the day!

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Headed back to camp for breakfast, which was oatmeal, we realized we forgot a pot to boil the water. With our survival skills we came up with this idea of making our soda cans into little pots. We each chugged a few soda’s, cut the tops off and filled them up with water.

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Happy with our boiling water for breakfast!

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Next we packed up and headed out to see the rest of the monument. So many beautiful sites!

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Landscape of Ute Canyon.

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Last but not least we hiked to Devils Kitchen and a few waterfalls.

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When we see water our first thought is “can we get in it?”. We love water!

After checking to make sure it was deep enough, Grady took the first leap into the 40+ degree water.

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After a long day of hiking, I twisted my ankle… again. Luckily for me I have some of the best brothers.

Being the only girl with 4  guys, they all made sure I was taken care of. During every climb they would ask if I needed help up or down. I felt safe with them. Especially when I hurt my ankle, they carried me out.  They, Grady, Brody, Eric and Sepp are the best guys to have on a camping trip!

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This was definitely one of the most memorable camping trips. These memories will last forever.

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Never let the chance of an adventure go to waste. Go out and create adventures for yourself, you wont regret it. And adventures are the best way to learn.

-Kady

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