Grand Mesa, June 27, 2025

The motel we're staying at offers eggs prepared any way you like as well as multiple other choices. Nice surprise. It's not a fancy hotel, but a smaller motel. Very clean and comfortable. I must have done good hotel research because all so far have been superior quality.

We were told that the haze we kept seeing at Gunnison and also here at Grand Mesa was from California wildfires. It is very noticeable here. Grand Mesa is only 23 miles from Grand Mesa, reportedly the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, at 500 square miles, 40 miles long, 11,000 feet in elevation and 6,000 feet higher than the surrounding valleys. It contains over 300 lakes. Rounded river cobbles beneath Grand Mesa's cap confirms that it was originally a valley, like Black Canyon of the Gunnison rim. 

We started our time at Grand Mesa by stopping at the Visitor Center to get information on what to do and where to go. There, we met a ranger from, of all places, East Rochester, NY! He directed us to the road to access a particular trailhead, and also told us of a back road that would be worthwhile to drive because of the beautiful meadows there. 

The place where the attack happened

We found the trailhead he had recommended, and started up the very rocky, very steep trail that had not been maintained--we had to push through brush and trees. Finally, we reached a wider trail that passes by a lake. The trail was around 2 lakes-a loop. We started down the path and were inundated by a swarm, not just a few, but a swarm, or mosquitos. Ray's white shirt had lots of little black flecks all over it. The little buggers were swarming around my head, and all I could hear was that familiar whine in my ears. NO WAY. We agreed that 3 hours of bug swatting was not in our future, so we turned around and came back up the trail to our car. We figured that the lakes were probably a perfect breeding ground for the mosquitos, and hadn't encountered them before on our travels in the west.

At this point, we decided to try the back road suggested by the ranger. It was awesome with wildflower meadows on both sides of the road. The driving was slow, because the road was rough and rocky. But it was not so rocky as to prevent a tractor trailer from motoring up the road in the opposite direction. I think it had a long cattle trailer attached. We continued on to Land's End Observatory, an old ranger observatory on the edge of the Grand Mesa. There are excellent views of the surrounding area there. Rather than returning the way we came, we continue on the dirt road, which offered some hair-raising twists and turns as we descended the mesa, but was really quite entertaining! 

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/r6qUFTWSerb3Btu8A