Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park + Catch up - Sept 9, 10, 11

 September 9th was a travel day from Dinosaur National Monument to Montrose, Colorado.  

September 10th was a recoup day - wash, food shop, car wash, haircuts, etc, etc.  You know, real life things that have to be done no matter where you are.  

September 11th we ventured to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  

This is the description about the canyon:  The mighty Gunnison River relentlessly carves the Black Canyon.  Its power comes from the steep, 2,000 foot drop it takes through the 53 mile long Black Canyon.  On average the river drops 43 feet per mile.  However, through the park it drops almost 95 feet per mile and as much as 480 feet in a 2 mile stretch.  As the river plunges through steep sections, its energy increases, cutting through the cliff walls faster than erosion can wear away the canyon sides.  The result is the dramatic Black Canyon of the Gunnison, deeper in many places than it is wide.  I also read that there was an expedition in 1900 to explore the depths of the canyon.  It was done on an inflatable rubber air mattress.  Can you imagine with the description of the river above doing it on a rubber air mattress?

This photo and the one above it was an attempt to use that closer rock as an indicator of how deep the canyon looked.  Hope it gives some perspective

The “black line” in the lower portion of the photo is the river, 2,000 feet down from the top.

The river is middle of the picture running top to bottom

We did a 3 mile hike with some views of the canyon and through nice wooded area that took you a little way down.  The only way down there is on a road that has a 16 foot grade in places and very sharp curves.  They do not allow vehicles over 22 feet.  We will be enjoying the park from today’s level. 

This gentleman was sitting near the beginning of the trail painting the beauty before him.

There is also a drive with pull offs and short trails to see various parts of the canyon.  We started on it today.  However, the first pull off was full and by the second we heard thunder in the distance.  By the time we found a turn off deep enough to turn around we were seeing several lightning bolts and darker skies.  We are here until Monday, so we will go back later in the week to do the drive and see more of the canyon.

On our way back to the campground we stopped at Horsefly Brewery for a beer and a snack.  They had lots of cans and growlers around.  Dave tried their red.

Til next time…