Try these new adventures in Grand Junction, Colorado

Among Grand Junction's spectacular red cliffs and winding canyons are the 11,000-foot Grand Mesa and the breathtaking 7,000-foot Colorado National Monument. Surrounded by an abundance of public lands – in fact, over 70 percent of the county is public land, Grand Junction is also a mecca for hunting, fishing, dirt bike and ATV riding.

You can expand on this stunning scenery with other attractions including three national scenic byways, rafting, boating, golfing skiing, extensive public art displays, museums, 23 nearby wineries, and a vibrant downtown featuring creative culinary options and shopping.

If you’re thinking of a summer visit to Grand Junction, Visit Grand Junction has announced many things to do in Colorado’s Grand Valley for 2018.  New mountain biking trails, water sport activities, summer events, and a sports shooting facility expand on outdoor recreation activities for which the Grand Valley is known.

Trails:

Opening this spring is a new segment of the One Riverfront Trail. Mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians and trail runners can start their journey on the nearly 30-mile-long Riverfront Trail in Palisade, travel through Grand Junction and now connect in Fruita to the Kokopelli Trail, which extends to Moab, UT.

Powderhorn Mountain Resort’s lift-assisted, downhill mountain biking attraction features a new 5-mile green trail – a smooth, all-level ride called the “Mutton Buster.”

Water Sports:

Colorado’s first cable wakeboarding park, Imondi Wake Zone, will open in summer 2018 on a 30-acre lake in Fruita. Imondi’s five-tower cable system will pull up to seven wakeboarders in a counterclockwise circuit featuring obstacles and ride rails. New learners can access a separate two-tower system.

Jet Boat Colorado offers “the most exciting boat tour on the Colorado River” with fishtails, speed runs and “cowboy spins” on the custom New Zealand-style jet boats. Additionally, a scenic option lets riders slow down and take in the beauty of the mountain scenery.

Summer Events

The Museums of Western Colorado’s Dinosaur Journey in Fruita will unveil a new exhibit, “Horns & Frills”, May 18 to Sept. 16; this exhibit will tell the secrets of dinosaurs’ combat and courtship and features new specimens, skulls and skeletons.

Dinosaur Journey will also offer “Dino Digs” from May 22 to Aug. 15. Guests can join professional paleontologists on half-, full- or four-day excursions and help discover ancient life-forms.

Music is part of the summer landscape as well. Two Rivers Winery in Grand Junction will present “Music in the Grapevines” at its outdoor pavilion one Tuesday a month from May to September. In Palisade,Garfield Estates Vineyard and Winery will offer a music series, “Wines, Vines & Harmony,” two Saturdays each month from July to September. Outdoor concerts are also planned at the Las Colonias Amphitheater in Grand Junction throughout the summer.

The Mountain Bike and Ultra Marathon/Relay Kokopelli 100 & 140 will take place September 7 and 8 on the entire 144-mile trail from Fruita to Moab.

Sports Shooting Facility:

The new Cameo Shooting and Education Complex will feature world-class shooting facilities, safety education and law enforcement training as well as competitions. The complex broke ground in March and will be partially open to the public this summer.

Grand Junction, the largest city in Western Colorado, is located at the junction of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers, between Salt Lake City and Denver on Interstate 70.

Information and photos courtesy of Gaylene Ore, Ore Communications, Visit Grand Junction, www.visitgrandjunction.com)

 

High Country Orchard in Palisade, Colorado

Scott High is a man of his word. Before marrying Theresa he told her, “I won’t promise you a rose garden, but I will promise you a vineyard.”

High Country Orchard is located in a gorgeous valley

First, however, came the peach orchard. That was fine with Theresa, who remembered an old Italian saying, “Where peaches grow is a great place for a vineyard.”

Before they ventured into vineyards on their perfectly situated plot of land near Palisade, Colorado, they got a bit distracted. The peaches were too good to give up, so they continued growing peach trees and learning more about the business. “This is truly farming,” Theresa says. “We prune, thin, plant—it’s all part of the agriculture cycle.”

They now grow award-winning fruit that was sampled by Michelle Obama and her girls when the trio visited High Country Orchard during President Obama’s 2008 campaign stop in Grand Junction. But every year hundreds of people, visitors from far and near, come for tours and shopping during July and August (Tours by appointment at other times).

Theresa and Scott High in their peach orchard

The Highs bought their first peach orchard in 1999 intending to turn the 10 acres into their starter vineyard. But when they tasted the peaches growing there, they knew the trees would have to stay. From that first land purchase, their facility has grown to 126 acres—now planted with 15 varieties of tree-ripened peaches, 3 varieties of sweet cherries, red and white wine grapes, and fresh garden vegetables.

With Scott’s background in agriculture and Theresa’s knowledge of marketing, they have the perfect combination of skills for operating a successful orchard. But they have taken working efficiently and putting out the best possible product to a new level. It starts with their growing technique and ends with their specialized high-tech equipment for analyzing, sorting, and packing peaches.

“We thin aggressively, pinching off 90 percent of blossoms in the spring,” Scott says. “That gives us quality rather than quantity. Later we only pick ripe fruit, and only from sunrise to noon, when it is juicier. If you pick a peach at 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. it’s a little flat,” he adds. Picked peaches are immediately pre-chilled; the Highs do not wash, wax, or brush the fuzz away.

Boxes of peaches are shipped all over the country
Photos by Beverly Burmeier

Packing occurs from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. each day during the season, after which trucks arrive to haul pallets to distributors. High Country Orchard peaches, which are all from three to three and a half inches in diameter, are on the shelves of Colorado stores like Whole Foods and Kroger within 24 hours of picking.

How can they get as many as 2000 boxes (40 items per box) of tree-ripened peaches ready to ship every afternoon? The solution lies in their customized packing line. Designed by Scott, engineered in France, and fabricated in California, the technology involves using two high-speed digital cameras that take seven spherical pictures of every peach as it passes along the conveyor belt. In 0.6 seconds the computer notes size, weight, color, and any imperfections and uses the calculations to determine which of nine foam-cushioned packaging lines to drop it down into. Six to 10 minutes after the peach leaves the pre-chiller, it is ready to be loaded onto the truck.

The machine also weeds out any bad peaches that may have escaped the sorters, and Theresa uses these to make delicious preserves, salsas, and grilling sauces in her commercial kitchen. These are sold on-site and through mail order.

About that vineyard Scott promised Theresa: The first bottles of cabernet sauvignon from grapes grown on their farm hit shelves to rave reviews in 2010.

High Country Orchard
3548 E 1/2 Rd.
Palisade, CO 81526
970-464-1150

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