Good morning!
I’m Lacy McKay.
Here’s the KSJD outdoor report
This weekend, I took a solo hiking trip to complete the Box Canyon, West Mancos and Rim Trail Loop. It was super important to me to avoid the hottest hours of the day, so I got started at about 7am.
I set out on the dry, dusty trail - which starts out fairly flat, but you start a descent fairly early on. I’d highly recommend taking some hiking poles if you plan on heading that way as the dry, rocky conditions can result in some unstable footing at times. I did trip once going downhill, resulting in a couple of light scrapes, but I was committed, so I continued on - passing pink woods roses and purple pentstemon in bloom along the way.
Once I made it down to the Mancos River, the temperature was chilly. The sounds of the wind in the trees above and the running water was just what I needed. I took a quick rest and met a couple fellow hikers and their pups. The walk along the river was beautiful and was the reward I needed before making the tough crawl out of the river bed and back up to the rim trail.
Once over the ridge, the walk back to the trail head gives you some great views of Hesperus peak. Highly recommended, but again, bring some poles.
That’s the KSJD Outdoor Report for today.
Stay safe out there.
