Mogensen Ponds BLM Land Bouldering

It was a brisk August morning atop the Grand Mesa. Satisfied with the car camping options and the weather but disappointed by the lack of climbable rocks, we crawled from the rear to the front of our crammed hatchback and sped off to the low country to hit some boulders spotted baking in the sun the previous day. Crossing the Plateau Creek as the sun rose and pleasantly finding little more than knee-deep waters and the occasional crawdad, we were getting good vibes on the short approach, surprisingly established despite looking more like a game trail from afar. The boulders that await on the other side of that creek have a lot of potential (bring a brush), and the cliffs above have loads of interesting features making for easy and rewarding low-altitude sandstone adventure climbing for those with a healthy choss radar. Be careful of inciting rockfall. Leave no trace when hiking or camping, and trust as few flakes as you can both for your safety and the natural beauty and intricacy of the rock. There are a lot of wild critters over here (birds nesting in cliffs, etc.), so be wary of those we share the land with.

At the time of writing, we have not checked out anything farther back in the canyon than the Wall of Noise Boulder, but it looks like there is a lot of potential for problems in both morning and evening shade farther from the moderately irritating highway. Looking forward to coming back when the weather is agreeable for more than a couple of AM hours.