June 2019

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is aptly named since sheer dark gray canyon walls run through most of the park, with the Gunnison River weaving along the canyon floor. The rock walls rise more than 2,700 feet straight up from the deep gorge, so steep that they offer only occasional glimpses of the river. But even if you can’t see the river, you can hear it at every overlook, roaring from below.

We decided to explore the South Rim since this was closest to our campground and offered many scenic overlooks.

 

At each stop there was a short hike, from 100 to 600 yards, to the overlook. We stopped at spots like Pulpit Rock, Devils Lookout and Chasm View. Throughout the park we saw many beautiful wild flowers.

 

Painted Wall, a 2,500 foot sheer cliff decorated with stripes and flourishes of pink and white crystalline pegmatite, was exceptionally beautiful, especially in contrast to the dark gray walls.

We drove on to High Point, which at 8,289 feet, was the end of the road.

Richard wanted to drive out on the East Portal Road, just before we got to the park exit, to get up close to the Gunnison River. We paused to note the warning sign and along the way experienced the most extreme grades we have ever seen, at 16 percent!

Actually the road wasn’t too bad (we have been on much worse) and it was fun to be up close to the river that we had been seeing and hearing from the canyon rim all day.

We enjoyed our day at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. You can also drive along the North Rim but we decided to save that for another day.