In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Pollock Bench Loop
24 May 2009 - 25 May 2009
A new place and destination for hiking an backpacking, the Pollack Bench Loop, south of Fruita, CO. We head out of Lyons on Saturday morning, 6:20 to be exact, which is a pretty early start for us and we were at the trailhead before noon.
The area south of Grand Junction and Fruita is the location of the Colorado National Monument though the signature red canyons continue outside its boundaries. The area where we are headed is the Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness Area.
From Fruita, we head south, cross the river, then turn right on Kingsview Road. This part of the road is paved and goes thru a small housing development. At the end of the pavement, there is a junction: Right will take you down the river. We go left onto Horsethief Canyon Road. The road is good, all-weather gravel and easily passable with a passenger car. We pass a couple of trailheads and one in process, including the Devil’s Canyon Trailhead which we take note of for another time, and continue to the Pollack Bench Trailhead which is at about 3 miles, not the expected 6 miles.
An aside here: Our destination is the rattlesnake arches. Gary has done this route, many years ago with his ex-wife Diane and his son Jordan when Jordan was about 10. His recollection is that it is a moderate trail about 3 miles or so in length. But, when the road to the trailhead is only 3, not 6, that would be the first indication that things have changed.
We pull into the trailhead parking area. It is a developed trailhead with good parking, a clean bathroom, and a very good map. We look at the map and compare to ours, which is a printout from TOPO! and a ‘recreation map’. Next time, we will need to be sure we get a 7 ½ minute USGS map. Examining the map at the trailhead, we see our camping destination is at least 6 miles, not the expected 3.
Oh well. Off we go! We’ve done enough backpacking to know our limits and not get too hung up on reaching a destination in an area we’ve never explored. Now we observe a black cloud off to the south and are glad to have raincoats, which we always bring backpacking.
We pack up, including 10 liters of water each, and head up the trail.
The trail is in excellent condition and well marked. We head up a hill and in no time are on a bench between two canyons. The view is stunning. Ribs of rock ripple and wave and the canyon bottoms are lush and green. I pick out places to pitch a tent and explore, but today we are headed to Rattlesnake Arches and continue on. Before long, we pass the first junction. Left would take us down into Devil’s Canyon, but we continue up and around. Now we get a taste of what the whole hike will be like, basically hiking along the rims of sandstone canyons.
Now the weather breaks. We stop and put on rain jackets and pants. It’s pretty warm but I’ve been soaked thru before and the shower does not last long.
Next junction is the Pollack Bench Loop; South to the loop and west to Pollack Canyon, Rattlesnake Canyon and beyond. We move west and before long are staring down. The trail is mostly over rock and is marked with cairns. Nothing too daunting and I am pleased. But then we reach the edge of a sheer canyon wall and the way down is not at all clear.
The signs show the Pollack Bench Trail continuing along the rim of the canyon and to the left. To the right is the Pollack Canyon and Rattlesnake Arches. Gary goes ahead and explores, trying to find a way down. I start to follow and see how exposed it is, and there is a difficult, balancing move that I cannot negotiate with a huge pack. And we have no line to drop the pack down with.
I try, then panic and get stuck, unable to move up or down. Finally I turn and crawl a bit. But knees are not as good as shoe rubber. Finally, I pull myself up and scamper back up to the rim.
Now what?
We agree to do the bench loop as it would give us a chance to see the area. We continue along the rim, which is the eastern at the top of the eastern rim of Pollack Canyon, filled with filled with the red and white sandstone formations so common to the area.
As it nears 4 PM, we begin thinking about finding a place to set up camp for the evening. Our trail is just below the highest ridge, so we find a place to climb up thru a break in the rock. We top out amongst junipers and pinions and cryptogrammic soil and not many flat places but we do find one with a view of East Pollack Canyon. The tent goes up easily and I move my pad and sleeping bag inside.
It starts to rain. We hide out under a tree for a bit, but then it rains harder. We decide its not going to quit and hide out in the tent where I stuff all my dry clothes in a stuff sack, arrange things and settle in for the night.
After a time we cook - these small propane stoves are priceless at this point – and we have something hot to eat and drink in no time. It continues to rain. And rain. We realize after a time that we hear water flowing – and lots of it – in the canyon below. Later the thunder comes up. At one point there is no time between lightening and thunder, not a good sign, seeing that we are near a ridge and I worry about the trees around us.
But the storm passes, though it continues to rain all night. We awaken the next morning, still raining. We lay around. Eventually the rain lets us and we pack up, head back down to the trail and continue up the loop. As it turns out, we’re pretty close to the head of the loop and the next junction. We can head downward – there is another loop down there somewhere – but we turn north and continue on the Pollack Bench Loop which is on a high bench between the two canyons. We investigate a sour trail that leads to the edge and the ideal campsite.
After another 10 minutes, we are in the general area of last night camp. The trail now appears to be an old two-track. Before long, we are back that the Pollack Bench/Pollack Canyon junction and wind our way back to the trailhead, arriving at noon or so. The sky continues to spit at us but its warm.
Other notes:
We hardly got out of earshot of the interstate.
Looking north, the Grand Valley is very green and pastoral.