Colorado

BLACK CANYON OF GUNNISON NATIONAL PARK
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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

	The most recent addition to the national park system - President Clinton upped its status from a national monument to a national park in 1999 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is pretty remarkable.  Located in the central western part of Colorado, just about 10 miles East of Montrose, 70 miles Southeast of Grand Junction, and 117 miles Northeast of Durango, Black Canyon became a national monument in 1933, following the exploratory efforts of Abraham Lincoln Fellows and William Torrance (who charted the river – 33 miles in 9 days - on an inflatable mattress in 1901) and the subsequent lobbying efforts of a local minister and outdoorsman, Reverend Warner (who felt compelled to protect and preserve this sacred ground for others to enjoy in the future).  

	Today, thanks to these pioneering efforts, the Canyon is protected.  There are only two roads through the park, one on the North Rim and one on the South.   Each of these rim drives has a visitor center, although the one on the North Rim is closed during the winter, where as the one on the South Rim is open year round.  Each of these drives has a number of spectacular lookout points, which offer a unique perspective view of the canyon.  From some of these vantage points, the canyon walls, intermittently jagged and sheer, drop nearly 2,000 -3,000 feet straight down to the Gunnison River below – you almost get queasy looking down into it.   

	The river, which looks sleepy and lazy from the rim, apparently is very strong.  During the spring, it used to rip through the canyon “at 12,000 cubic feet per second with 2.75 million horsepower force.”   The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile in the national park, and 480 feet in one two mile stretch.  It is the force of this river, laden with debris that carved the 48 miles of the Black Canyon over the last two million years (and it is also this force which warrants the Class V and above label of the river’s rapids).  

	Adding color to the black canyon walls are thick and thin strands of pink molten igneous rock known as pegmatite intrusions.  Following volcanic eruptions a very long time ago, this “rock,” in hot liquid form squeezed itself into the cracks and fissures of the crystalline rock (which is estimated to be 1.7 million years old), and then cooled leaving behind the pegmatite intrusions which now stand out against the black walls of the canyon.  Because the molten rock cooled slowly, it has large crystals of feldspar (pinkish-orange color), quartz (milky white), and mica (shiny flaky material), all of which add to the visual delight of the canyon, particularly when coupled with the forest green of the Pinyon and Juniper pine trees and the golden Gambel oak trees dotting the sides of the canyon, as well as the emerald green of the river below.  

	Several short hikes, including a four mile loop from the visitor center, allow folks to explore more of the canyon, and even descend below the rim.  Longer hikes take you down to the river, although you need a free wilderness permit for these.  Due to time constraints, we only did the four mile hiking loop and drove the South Rim Drive.  Regardless, we had some amazing views of not only the canyon, but also the snowcapped West Elk Mountains to the East and the San Juan Mountains to the Southwest.

Montrose, Colorado

	Having spent a great day at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we were ready for some food and drink, and Mike was ready for some USC football.  Just about 20 minutes west of the park is the town of Montrose, from where Reverend Warner used to preach to his congregation.  Although several bars beckoned us, we chose the Red Barn on Main Street (we are almost embarrassed to say that we nearly ended up at Chilis again, but they weren’t showing the game).   The Red Barn’s food was good, the service great, and they had four televisions showing football games, including USC v. Washington, as well as a big TV showing Game One of the World Series.  Once we were satisfied that the Red Sox had beaten the Cardinals and USC had shut-out Washington, we headed out.
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