Oriflamme Canyon and Pinyon Mountain Valley

Today was the exploration of two areas which are fairly close together, Oriflamme Canyon and Pinyon Mountain Valley. I started with a ride out Oriflamme Canyon, which I’m hoping to do as a loop trip at some point. The second ride of the day was out Pinyon Mountain Valley, which I greatly enjoyed. The desert landscape with pinyon and juniper trees higher up. There is definitely more to explore here.

Riding up Rodriguez Spur Road

One of my favorite lunch spots is the back of my subaru. My trip up Rodriguez Canyon was fairly short, but I’m definitely looking forward to coming back and exploring more.

Next up, was Pinyon Mountain Valley:

The desert landscape and flora is starting to grow on me.

There are some great little side canyons to explore in this area, and I love having some real trees out in the middle of the desert.

An old Pinyon Tree. 

The pass below Whale Peak. I loved the landscape up here. I’m looking forward to a return adventure. The pass made for a nice place to turn around. 

I made it back to the car too early: there was still sunight..  The goal is to stretch my day for as long as possible, ideally arriving back at the car right as the light has fully faded. I relaxed a bit once again in the back of our subaru, looked at maps, and watch the sun go down. I even took another short, 15-minute ride out another side road  to try and make the most of my day off.