Black Canyon of the Gunnison (08-01-17)

We have tried several times to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, in Colorado, and it has always been the wrong time of year or we were in a rush to get somewhere else.  THIS time we made it!

We had two days to explore this park, so our first day was partly spent driving to all the scenic turnouts on the south rim, looking down into the canyon.

At the last turnout, there was a short, 1.5 mile trail to Warner Point, which we took. It had some nice views of the canyon.

In some areas, the canyon walls are 2700 feet high.  Deep in the canyon, the Gunnison River has been slowly carving away at the hard rock, for over 2 million years.  Every 100 years, the canyon gets about an inch deeper.

I am not really a fan of cliffs, and just seeing Paul stand on the edge gives me vertigo!

In the 1800s, an  expedition from the railroad deemed this area “impenetrable ” but in the early 1900s, a water shortage spurred on another expedition, looking for a place where a tunnel could be dug to re-route some of the water for irrigation purposes.  They found a good spot and a few years later the tunnel was built.  It is still utilized to bring water to the nearby valleys.













we had thought we might try hiking down into the canyon, but we heard from the ranger that it is considered a class 3 climb.  I knew it would be steep, but I wasn’t interested in a “climb”.
So, we drove down, instead.











We saw our first black bear of the season- he was not happy to see our truck come around the corner, and couldn’t get away fast enough!

The views from the bottom were not nearly as impressive but this is the area accessible by car, so its wider.

Our second day was spent on the north rim of the canyon.  It was a 2 hour drive to get there, since there is no bridge across the canyon.  Our mission was to hike the North Vista Trail.

We got an entirely different perspective on the canyon, as we were able see the surrounding area  in addition to the canyon itself.

This trail was about 6.5 miles long, with 1000 feet of elevation gain.  It was reasonably easy, and the views were worth it.

The north rim also had a scenic drive and although in some ways we felt we’d had enough of the canyon, we figured “eh, we’re here” so we drove down the dirt road to see the views.

Black Canyon got the name “black” Canyon because in its deepest and narrowest section, it only receives 33 minutes of  sunshine a day.

So, now we can say we have been to Black Canyon of the Gunnison….and 35 of the 59 National Parks in the USA.