Week 2: Donovan Rice tackles Grand Mesa, Little Book Cliffs near Palisade, sees mustangs

Donovan Rice moved out of the Adobe Badlands and onto the Grand Mesa to start week 2, then through the Little Book Cliffs as he continues along the Great Colorado Route.

Thursday, May 28 marks 14 days Rice has been out walking the 1,700-mile long thru-hike around Colorado.

Rice first navigated through the “extraterrestrial” landscape north of Delta before climbing up almost 5,000-feet-of-elevation onto the Grand Mesa.

In a social media post on the Great Colorado Route’s Instagram account, Rice said the Adobe Badlands landscape was like, “if the Sand Dunes (National Park), Quebec’s Mont Albert and Newfoundland’s Lewis Hills all got together and had a baby.”

Once he cleared the Adobes, it was time to ascend and follow the south rim of the Grand Mesa toward Palisade.

Rice went from semi-desert shrubland to juniper woodland to montane forest to subalpine tundra, crossing through four different biomes on Day 7. However, near his route’s planned summit point, Rice had to choose a different option.

“I deviated from my planned route up Grand Mesa,” Rice said. “The new route gave an excellent scramble up Point Peninsula, but it also came with the challenge of a nasty uphill bushwhack for roughly a mile.”

Once atop the Grand Mesa, Rice was rewarded with a great view of the surrounding areas.

After skirting the south and southwest rim of the Grand Mesa – opting not to stay atop the mesa – Rice hiked along not-so-great maintained trails as he pushed toward the Palisade Plunge trail on Day 8.

“I picked a sub-optimal route from Indian Point to the Palisade Plunge, so I’ll need to go back after the thru-hike to figure out the ‘maximally’ fun and least frustrating way to connect these points,” Rice said.

Rice also said, however, he was rewarded with a waterfall view while hiking on the Grand Mesa.

Western Colorado’s Palisade Plunge Trail officially opened for hikers and bikers in spring of 2021 (May 29, 2021 was phase one), and was Rice’s main path to Colorado’s wine country on Day 9.

He dropped over 4,000-feet-of-elevation from his camping spot atop the Grand Mesa into the town of Palisade.

The trail is not very steep even though it was built into the cliff sides, at least from the Shirttail Point Trailhead to Palisade Rim Trailhead (approximately 20 miles).

Rice took a well-earned zero day for Day 10 in Fruita with his dad and stepmom after being picked up by them in Palisade.

To start Day 11, Rice picked up where he left off on Day 9 in Palisade, but quickly realized his planned route for the day crossed private property, so he opted to take his backup route.

He climbed Mt. Garfield, a choice he said ended up being better anyway.

“I originally planned to enter the Little Books (Cliffs) near the Colorado River and I-70, but instead had to go through Palisade and up Mt. Garfield,” Rice said. “I really like technically challenging but logistically simple thru-hikes, so putting folks directly through town actually winds up being a win rather than a loss; at the small cost of a four-mile road walk.”

Rice said he couldn’t locate a spring he planned on collecting water from while in the Little Book Cliffs after leaving Mt. Garfields’ summit.

So Rice pushed further down the trail through the dry western-Colorado landscape.

Luck was on Rice’s side when he found water flowing in Jerry Creek, one of the main drainages from the Little Book Cliffs that flows into the Colorado River.

Between the dry conditions and low flow in Jerry Creek, Rice did stumbled upon a few snakes and wild horses as well while hiking in the Little Book Cliffs Wilderness Study Area.

Rice pushed through the Little Books and descended onto the flats of the Grand Valley north of Grand Junction for Day 12 and 13, arriving in Fruita.

He said he might check out The Hot Tomato for a pizza slice if the restaurant is on his path, but also said he missed out on a peach milkshake while in Palisade.

Rice said he thinks he’s hiked approximately 134 miles after 13 days, including the two zero days with no miles and two “nearos” (near zero) while in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Over the next 7-8 days, Rice will be hiking around Colorado National Monument, West Bangs Canyon, the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and the north side of the Uncompahgre Plateau while on his way toward Ridgway.

In his own words

Most satisfying moment from week 2

• “The most satisfying was how cram-packed fun the Little Books were,” Rice said. “Going directly up Mount Garfield, then briefly playing in the Lemon Squeezer before hitting the Main Canyon and seeing the wild mustangs was such an epic day.”

Most challenging moment from week 2

• “Biggest lesson is waking up early and knocking out miles while the temperatures are still cool,” Rice said. “Temps haven’t gotten too crazy yet, but I may need to start waking up at 4:30sh (a.m.), hike until noon, take a three hour siesta – ideally near a water source and under shade – then resume hiking until 9 p.m.,” Rice said.

What he’s learned from week 2

• “I’m definitely taking my time, trying to build up the right muscle and tendon strength to carry me through the full trip without injury,” Rice said. “I’m also trying to find that balance between getting through the desert before it gets too hot while also not hitting the San Juans while they are too snowy. It’s a delicate balancing act for sure, even on a low snow year such as this one.”