Rattlesnake Canyon Backpacking and Doggo

A few weeks ago my GF and I decided to backpack to Rattlesnake Canyon in the Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness near Grand Junction Colorado. This canyon contains 9 natural arches, the second highest concentration of arches in the United States. Unfortunately it was very windy and I was unable to get any good drone shots, however I wanted to share a few of my favorite stills from the trip.

I know the color is intense on this first picture, I really wanted to make the scene pop and bring out that bag on the doggo. The shot isn't for everybody but it might be my favorite from the trip.

A good boi waiting in the shade. He carries his own water and food when out on overnight trips.

Some impressive cairns along the trail.

A sandstone spire.

The East Rim Arch, is the largest arch in the canyon and the only one I managed to get any quality pictures of.

This photo looks down from the bench where the arches are located into the valley below.

This final shot was cropped down from a larger pano, if you look closely you can see my GF standing at the base of the arch. The total trip was 18 miles long due to taking a few wrong trails. Wind was brutal and water very rare, if it hadn't been the rainy season we would not have found any at all. I highly recommend this trail as an early season overnight but I would stay far far away by the time the summer heat hits the Grand Valley. All pictures were taken on an Iphone X and edited with Darkroom.