En route to the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado, we decided to find a hotel room in Montrose. Wouldn’t you know, there was a rodeo in town?!? Likely found the last room in town at the Motel 6 and then headed to our first national park of the trip: Black Canyon of the Gunnison (BCotG).
Driving to BCotG reminded me a lot of heading toward the Grand Canyon, except there was a lot more terrain. It was similar in that we were seemingly driving along, enjoying the wilderness, and BAM!, a huge gorge opens up in the landscape that is hard to take in by eye. The BCotG was eroded by the Gunnison River, which has the same vertical drop as the Mississippi River but in merely a ~20 mile section. The river cut through the canyon so rapidly that erosion did not have time to widen the canyon and is reflected in the sharp, steep walls rising up to 2,000 feet in places.
After cruising the rim, we traveled down to the canyon floor following a dirt road, many switchbacks, and a 16% grade – no, Shana, you can’t go on that road. It was serious enough that I didn’t have it in neutral. The Gunnison River in this stretch contains Class 4+ rapids that have been known to take lives. We made our way back out of the canyon and thanked Ol’ Blue for getting us down and back.
Drove back to the Motel 6 for possibly the best shower of my life, a cold beer, and a good night’s rest.
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