Hey! I just returned from a great hike into No Thoroughfare Canyon on the southern edge of the Colorado National Monument, where desert wildflowers are really starting to do their thing.  Bright red Indian Paintbrush have been out for a couple weeks, as have the yellow Bladderpods (Physaria fendleri for all you Latin-loving botanists). Now, however, with recent rain storms, there's much more: purples, reds, yellows, greens, pinks, whites. It's becoming quite colorful in this red rock-rimmed canyon only minutes from downtown Grand Junction.

Ancient Freemont Cottonwoods along the creek bottom are leafing out, as are the willows.  There's still plenty of water flowing through this canyon, and the waterfalls, though diminutive by some standards, are beautiful and refreshing. (Don't drink the water, though!) Delicate evening primrose are showing off next to beautiful pink-flowering barrel cactus and scarlet  red Claret Cup Cactus. All in all, it's worth the short trek into this canyon to take a peek at springtime in the canyon country.

The most popular route into No Thoroughfare, the longest canyon in the National Monument, begins just inside the east gate of the Monument. No Thoroughfare Canyon is the one you drive through on Monument Road to get to that east entrance.

Once you enter the Monument, travel three-tenths of a mile to the parking area on your left. This is the trail head for for Serpents Trail, Old Gordon's Trail, Echo Canyon and No Thoroughfare Canyon. Follow the signs into No Thoroughfare. Within a mile and a half, you'll come to the first major waterfall. Stop and refresh before ascending above this Precambrian structure to the right side of the falls. In another mile or so, you'll come to a second waterfall. 

The trail is easily followed to this point. You can climb above this second waterfall, and continue all the way up this drop-dead gorgeous canyon, but you'd better have pretty good navigational skills, a GPS and a good topo map, because it's a "primitive" trail from here.

Just getting this far, however, allows you to really enjoy springtime in Red Rock Canyon Country, where the wildflowers are really doing their thing right now.