It was early on Monday morning June 25, the shadows were still on the mountains when we headed north to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
We left the Alpen Rose RV Park and headed north on Highway 550 to Montrose, Co. A little over 2 hours and we were at the Black Canyon National Park, with its soaring cliffs and the roaring rapids
below. The Black Canyon, as a geographic feature, is 48 miles in length and 2,700 feet deep. To describe the canyon as dramatic is an understatement! It has been carved into the earth by the powerful Gunnison River. Its depth alone is amazing, along with the pine forests at the rim to the plunging gorges and shady vertical walls. No other canyon in North America combines such a wide
range of narrow openings and startling depths.
The Canyon has been a mighty barrier to humans from the beginning of time. Only its rims, never the gorge, show evidence of human occupation - not even
the Ute Indians living in the area since written history began. No Spanish explorers to the Southwest reported seeing the canyon. The first written record came from the Hayden Expedition of 1873-74 The Hayden and, later, Denver & Rio Grande Railroad survey parties deemed Black Canyon inaccessible. The canyon is so deep and narrow that very little sunlight can penetrate it. Early travelers found the shadow-shrouded and foreboding.In just 48 miles in the Black Canyon, the Gunnison River loses more in elevation that the 1,500 mile Mississippi River does from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile in the national park. It drops 480 feet in one two mile
stretch. Fast, debris-laden water carving hard rock has made the canyon walls so steep. The Colorado River in Grand Canyon averages seven feet per mile. Only the Yellowstone River in Wyoming has a steeper gradient.
One attraction that is hard to miss is the Painted Wall (second from the bottom photo). The Painted Wall is the highest cliff in Colorado, standing at 2,250 feet above the river ( that's 1,000 feet taller than the Empire State Building). The pink and white pegmatite stripes lace through the rock almost like lattice which seems to hold the wall in place.
The national park hosts wild life ranging from the trout that live in the river to the weasel and badger to cougar and bear, along with the many birds that live in the canyon.
The Black Canyon was originally designated a national monument in 1933. However, in 1999, it was renamed a national park, placing it in the same league as other renowned treasures like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite.
What a treasure! Another fun adventure.
See what we discover next.
Until then,
Candy and Johnny on the road.
