Visiting the Black Canyon

Tomichi Point

Our first good look at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River

Though we were quite content in our cool, high mountain campground and could have stayed there the rest of the summer, we did have other places we wanted to visit.  Reluctantly we said goodbye to the Lizard Head and descended several thousand feet in elevation to journey to Montrose, Colorado.  Both of us wanted to see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and as we were only a few hours away, it was a perfect opportunity.

 

Overlook near the visitor center

We did whine a bit when we arrived in Montrose – it was 85 degrees!  We lost almost 3,500 feet in elevation and gained 20 degrees.  But after checking the Texas temperatures we decided we didn’t have much to complain about.  Even so, we decided to get up early the next morning to visit the park.  The canyon rim varies from 1000 to almost 2500 feet higher in elevation than Montrose but the drop from the top of the canyon walls to the turbulent Gunnison River is about 2700 feet.  Summer temperatures at the canyon’s edge as well as the bottom of the canyon can be quite warm.

 

Pulpit Rock

The haze was caused by southern winds blowing smoke from New Mexico fires

Because we didn’t have reservations to camp in the park and because we wanted an electric hook-up so we could run the fans & air conditioner, we stayed in a commercial campground in Montrose.  (This also allowed us time to get some groceries and wash clothes.)  Montrose is a small, clean city with great views of the mountains.  Many people love its close proximity to ski areas and all the water recreation areas along the Gunnison River so it is becoming a popular place to visit and live.

 

The Gunnison River has been carving the canyon for over 2 million years

The next morning, we did get an early start and the drive to the visitor center at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison was just a short 40 minutes.  Canyons, by their very nature, tend to sneak up on you.  Often you are driving or walking along in a fairly flat area and surprise, there is a great slit in the earth. 

 

Though much of the rock is dark, there are areas of color

The Black Canyon is no exception.  Driving there, we kept looking for signs of the canyon but were practically on the canyon’s edge before we could see it.  One of the reasons that this canyon is so dramatic is that it is deeper than it is wide in many places and so sheer and narrow that very little sunlight penetrates to the bottom, thus the name.  The rock walls themselves are composed of a dark metamorphic rock formation of gneiss and schist that also add to the canyon’s “blackness.”

 

Pink and white pegmatite, an extrusion of magma

that seeped into cracks and hardened,

streak the otherwise dark rock with color.

It took about 2 million years for the Black Canyon to form.  Hard rock was uplifted and then cut through by fast-moving water laden with debris.  The water became entrenched in its course and had to keep cutting through the hard rock causing steep cliffs to form.  The metamorphic rocks exposed by the river at the canyon’s bottom are nearly 2 billion years old, dating from the oldest era of the Earth.

 

Near the canyon edge with the elk mountains in distance

Juniper and pinyon pine along with Gambel oak are the major trees

In comparison, the Grand Canyon is made up of varied rock types both soft, river-carved rocks and harder rocks resulting in both slope and cliff formation.  The Grand Canyon is much wider and the variety of minerals in the rock types give it more colors.  Plus, it has been eroding three times as long as the Black Canyon.  I’m glad to have now visited both canyons!

 

Colorful map lichen on dark rock

We drove along the North Rim and took 9 short hikes along the canyon’s edge.  Maya was allowed to walk these short overlook trails with us as long as she was on leash, and given the narrow rims and rocky trails, we wouldn’t have had it any other way.  (I sort of wanted to be leashed in places myself…)

 

The canyon widens as the Gunnison flows west 

From a couple of the overlooks we saw a bird that I had never seen before, the violet-green swallow.  It is a beautiful bird with a white rump, white cheeks and throat and dark iridescent violet-green back and wings.  The canyon was a great perspective for viewing birds because they were flying so close to us and almost at eye-level.  We also saw white-throated swifts and a peregrine falcon.

 

Pink pegmatite streaks in dark canyon walls

By noon, we had hiked the trails and visited the visitor center.  It was warming up nicely, so we were happy to return to the car for a trip down to the canyon floor.  The breeze funneling down the canyon and the coolness of the river kept the canyon floor from being too hot. 

 

A side canyon enters the main canyon

The Gunnison River loses more elevation in the 48 miles of the Black Canyon than the Mississippi River loses from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, dropping an average of 96 feet per mile in the national park.  Pretty impressive and not a river that is very navigable, though sections can be run by experienced kayakers.  Rafting is discouraged by the national park because of the unpredictability of the river.

 

Mountain mahogany with its string-like seeds

This hardy shrub can grow to 20 feet and has extremely hard wood.

One thing I found hard to believe is that people are allowed, and that some actually do, walk down from the edge of the canyon to the floor.  Near the visitor center is a trail that is only a mile down to the river but it is a wild free-for-all.  In places, the trail plunges over 1800 vertical feet down scree slopes littered with large rocks.  Then you have to climb back up.  Or maybe it’s a crawl.  I’m adventurous, but it sounds like broken bones or worse could be involved…

 

Sunset view, one of the wider parts of the canyon

Grand Mesa is the big blue mesa in the distance.

There is no bridge between the north and south rims of the canyon so we did not drive to the North Rim, as it would have taken over 2 hours and it was already mid-afternoon.  Besides after everything we had experienced and learned, were ready to return to our RV, cool off and take a nap.

The Gunnison River just before it enters the steep canyon walls

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked  1     
Total Miles Hiked   2.25
Total Elevation Gain  395