Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO

     After a week with family and friends, our trip that had taken us through parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado took us into Southwest Colorado.

    Doug does 99.9% of the driving on our trips and so does not get to enjoy the scenery as much as I--unfortunately--on this day the Rockies, high plains, high skies.

    We set up camp amid patches of snow in Monarch Park, at 10,500 feet, near the Continental Divide. The South Arkansas River begins nearby and flows through the campground on its way to join the Arkansas River nearby at Salida. The Arkansas continues on through Kansas and Oklahoma and eventually to its namesake state. One of the things I love about our travels is learning more about geography.

    Doug went exploring and returned with chilly wet feet after a bit of unintended cross country through the icy streams.

Although the sun was warm, we were glad to be inside the van as the nighttime temps dropped.

    We were out early in the morning and drove to warmer elevations for breakfast in Gunnison, home to Western Colorado State University, where friends of ours met. 

 

It was the day before my birthday, and Doug gifted me with earrings as well as a small stained glass leaf that had drawn me into the artists coop.

Not far from Gunnison, we again climbed, to 8,500 feet and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, another place we hadn't even heard of before researching our trip. 

The canyon's name derives from its steep walls and narrowness that  prevent sunlight from reaching the bottom for all but a couple of hours each day.

Doug at Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Rock strata and colors created by geology and time.

    Clanging cowbells awoke us the next morning as runners arrived at the finish of the Black Canyon Ascent 6M Run and Challenge Walk. These hearty folk ran or walked six miles, climbing from 6,500 to 8,500 feet--the route to Black Canyon we had driven the day before, all the while remarking how steep it was.

Our home on the road.

    After touring the Black Canyon rim road, we headed down to Montrose for a layover day--we were both fighting nasty colds and needed to catch our breath, literally. 

From Montrose, we had our first views of the San Juan Mountains as we headed toward Ouray.