Our destination was Montrose, CO, home of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and of our campground. It's called the Black Canyon because it's so narrow and steep that the sun doesn't reach some parts of it, making it look black. From the campground to the entrance of the park is about a 20-minute drive.
The first full day of our visit here, our plan was to drive the canyon rim road, and take all the walks to the rim. Depending on how long that took, we would either go back to the RV after the Rim drive, and return in the evening, or just stay in the park for the evening program. Because the park is not highly developed and has a very low ambient light threshold, it is an International Dark Sky Designated place. What makes it very special to me is that is was the first place I ever saw the Milky Way (back in 1975). We camped here in a tent back then. We may have changed, but the canyon hasn't. So we eagerly looked forward to the evening program that would show off the "star" attraction with high powered telescopes.
Superlative words don't adequately describe the beauty of this canyon. Even the best photographs fall far short of showing how steep, how grand, how deep the canyon really is. One cliff here, at 2300 feet is the highest in Colorado. If the Empire State Building stood on the canyon floor, it would reach slightly more than halfway to the top of the cliff. The face of that cliff is called The Painted Wall, seen in the photo to the right.
Most of the viewpoints here are a short walk from the road--200 yards to 1 1/2 miles round trip. All offer stellar views of the canyon. The last stop on the Rim Road presented us with a wonderful trail that took us to expansive views of the Uncompagre Valley on one side, and the Black Canyon on the other. By the time we were done checking out the rim views, it was about 4 pm, and
we opted to take the East Portal Road that heads down to the Gunnison River. That road consists of successive hairpin turns, with some sections at a 16% grade. We hesitated at first, but then decided to go for it. We're so glad we did!
From the bottom of the canyon, you get a whole different perspective. And it was here that we found the perfect, quiet spot to sit and contemplate the exquisite beauty that surrounded us. We broke out the lawn chairs and cracked open a few beers.
It was hard to tear ourselves away, but we did, so we would have time to ascend the East Portal Road and get to Sunset View, a spot along the rim road where you can watch the sun go down over the canyon. What made this sunset wonderful was that the small crowd assembled here watched it in almost reverential silence. Sweet!
By the time the sun had completely set, and the colors of the sky were fading, it was time to head over to the star show. BUT...there would be no stars on display that night as the clouds rolled in.
No matter. The Canyon was fabulous. Here are some photos we took: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BJspZTXniHx1bUqH6
No comments:
Post a Comment