Wed, Jun 1, 2011

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

You walk to the edge of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison feeling comfortable and anticipating a spectacular view.  Your comfort leaves immediately but the view delivers for sure. – Donna Downey

Our room in Gunnison has, so far, won the best room award.  It was “roomy”, comfortable, attractive, had plenty of convenient plug-ins, wireless and hard-wired internet (faster), good cable TV selection and good TV, remote worked, plenty of good water in the shower (always surprised how many motels don’t have enough water pressure), exterior access (easier for taking dogs out and lugging our stuff in every night), good coffee in the room, and a full hot breakfast this morning! So our day started out great.

The temperatures this morning were mild but it was overcast and looked just a little like it might rain.  After so many blue-sky days we were due for some clouds.  We had plans to make it a relatively short day and either end up back in Gunnison or somewhere nearby.

We drove out past Blue Mesa Lake which is just west of Gunnison. The reservoir is Colorado’s largest body of water, is twenty miles long and has almost 100 miles of shoreline.  It is beautiful, especially when it is full, but we have not seen it that way in many years.  We were surprised to find it much lower than it was last year and far from full.  There was absolutely no wind, however and it looked almost like a sheet of glass in the high desert.  Often, by afternoon the winds can be extreme and fishing on this large open and expansive water can be hazardous at times.  Today, though I’m assuming the fishermen were enjoying the quiet waters.

From Blue Mesa Lake we headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  We visited this park many years ago but it was in the winter, very cold and snowing and not conducive to getting out of the Jeep to walk over to an icy precipice to view a 2700 foot drop. The drive down to the canyon floor was closed as well so we decided to visit another time.  Today would be that time.

The Black Canyon was formed more than a few years ago; primarily carved out by the Gunnison River.  The Gunnison River in the canyon drops an average of 43 feet per mile (in contrast with the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon which drops only 7.5 feet per mile).  This steep drop caused the water to almost blast thru the canyon picking up large rocks and carving out this narrow but deep chasm.  The sheer cliffs are staggering with some of them reaching a height of 2700 feet.  There were a number of nice short hikes out at the many overlooks and peering over the rock cliffs you could barely see the powerful Gunnison River below.  Besides the awesome views of the canyon and river below there were a variety of wild flowers blooming including serviceberry shrubs which were covered with tiny white blooms and filled the paths to the rim with a wonderful fragrance.

Paris and Dodger were a big hit with an older German couple we met at one of the overlooks.  They even asked if they could take their pictures and I told them they were professionals at posing.  We passed them later as they were walking out from one of the overlooks and with Dodger and Paris hanging out the back window they waved and took another picture.  We’re hoping they end up on the cover of some foreign magazine.

After making most of the walks on the south rim drive we took the drive down into the canyon.  Wow, what a dive!  And I mean dive not drive.  It has a 16% grade most of the way down, is narrow and has very sharp curves, nothing over 22 feet in length allowed, and its only two redeeming features are that it is paved (thank goodness) and the views on the way down are incredible.  The portion of the river accessible at the bottom is part of a diversion dam that sends water into a 5.8 mile long tunnel that diverts a portion of the river’s life-giving water to Montrose and the vast farmlands beyond.  The really incredible fact about this tunnel is that it was begun in 1905 and completed and dedicated in 1909 and has been in use ever since.  Each winter the water is cut off from the tunnel and it is inspected and needed repairs are carried out and the water then is diverted back into the tunnel.  It is amazing what an impact engineers have had on our lives.

We had a late lunch picnic on the Gunnison River just above the diversion tunnel. The weather was just right and the view not bad either.

By the time we left the park it was late afternoon and we were ready for a room. We would end up in Ridgeway again.  We were lucky enough to spot a cow elk with her new calf just outside Ridgeway and she hesitated just long enough to allow me to rapid fire some shots before she and her calf eased into the forest.  For us, that is a perfect way to end the day.

We are very well tonight and hope that y’all are too!

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger