Grand Mesa (S24: Part 2)

A drive up 10,000 feet (3048 m) to the largest flat-top mountain in the world

If you missed last week’s post, I mentioned that I spent twenty days camping in our conversion van during the summer of 2024. For the next fifteen weeks, I’m detailing different days from this vacation.

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Despite living in Colorado for fifteen years, we’d never been to the San Juan mountain range of Colorado. Because Highway 50 was closed over Blue Mesa Reservoir, we needed a different way to get to the San Juans. And because we used Breckenridge as a jumping off point, it made sense to take I-70 through the heart of Colorado. This put us at the northern edge of Colorado Road 65, the start of the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. We figured, “Why not?” So we decided to stop on Grand Mesa, another area we had not explored.

Grand Mesa is the largest flat-top mountain (mesa) in the world. It was formed from a lava flow that filled a river canyon, and for some geological reason, it has more than 300 lakes on top. So our plan was to boondock in the Grand Mesa National Forest and stand-up paddleboard on a couple of the lakes.

Three views of the same butte in the distance as we wound our way up the mesa.

This picture did not quite turn out how I wanted it to. I loved how the road was shadowed by the clouds yet also lit by the sun and that there was a car to show some context.

We could see the Book Cliffs in the distance. These desert mountains dominate the landscape in Mesa County, Colorado. The sun lit them just right! I also liked the juxtaposition of desert hills with a lush green forest - it shows how quickly you rise out of the desert onto the mesa along the highway.

We left Breckenridge a little later than expected because I took my time in the morning. We also stopped a few too many times so I could take pictures (sorry Adam!), so we arrived at Island Lake to SUP later than we wanted. The lake was so beautiful and calm when we arrived.

Big lake, tiny fishermen (or women).

However, it didn’t take long for the summer afternoon storm clouds to grow. As I posted in a note, we only had about 30 minutes on the lake for paddling.

We cut our losses and drove to the campsite. We made dinner as it rained, but it did not take long for the clouds to move out. While I did the dishes, Adam explored the area around the van. He noted there was a dam just up the hill. After dinner, we went out with my camera in hand.

Close to sunset - low-lit Lodgepole pines.

The wildflowers were just starting to appear.

The water was so calm that this reflection was perfect.

My favorite shot of the day. I have to have at least one black and white!

As we walked back to the van, we saw a bird swoop and circle overhead. Adam says, “I think that was a bald eagle,” so we walked to the right of this shot to investigate. Once we got past this tree, the bald eagle flew to our left and made a bird sound neither of us had ever heard. Suddenly, another bald eagle popped out of the trees on the left, and they flew off together. Adam and I looked at each other bug-eyed. It was what we call “van magic,” and it salvaged an otherwise kinda crappy day.

Cheers.