Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Wow -- A best kept secret -- The Black Canyon of the Gunnison!!!

This is a national park.  As in a NATIONAL PARK.   Who's ever heard of it?  We just found it on the map while planning a trip to Yellowstone, a park that every one has heard of.  So...it was on the way, so we went. 

First, getting there was, shall we say interesting, and by that we mean slightly terrifying.   We left our sticks and bricks home that is off US Rt. 550 in Durango and drove basically up the street  as 550 proceeds North through Colorado.  In this case  up the street means literally  UP the street.  And over the mountains.  Really high ones in the San Juan range of the southern Rockies.  

You'll note the road is built on a ledge! 

Rt. 550 coils (I'd say winds, but that sounds idyllic) as it becomes the Million Dollar Highway between Silverton, Colorado and Ouray, Colorado,  and then continues as 550 into Montrose.  Why is this section called the Million Dollar Highway, you ask -- here are our thoughts...

•  We've heard it cost a million dollars a mile to build in the 1980s.  That's believable.
• You'd probably have to pay me a million dollars to drive on it, but Bill did a great job.  So did Baby Beluga.
• It has, and this is  absolutely true, Million. Dollar. Views! Astounding mountain views that lead Wikipedia to tell me this is the most beautiful highway in America.  Certainly the most spectacular.  
• BUT... hardly any of those million dollars was spent on guard rails!  

This named section of US 550 is only 25 miles long but takes about an hour to drive.  The lanes are narrow, the cliffs are high and going north, they are about a foot from the passenger seat (yes, I exaggerate, but not much)  and the hairpin turn are -- well hairpinny!  Many are marked for 10-15 mph.  And they mean it.  And to add to the fun (again I mean terror)  18-wheeler tractor-trailers use this route.   Baby Beluga is big, but they are lots bigger.   Nonetheless, this drive,  is worth driving, just for its own sake.  

We topped three passes -- Coal Bank Pass  (10,640'),  Molas pass (10, 970'), and Red Mountain Pass  (11,018').  And Red Mountain  deserves its name because it is definitely red.    The snow melt was running down the sides of the mountains and along side the road, the mountains and waterfalls  were many and gorgeous, and I'd ride with Bill any time!  Well, winter?  Not sure.....  We'd encourage any one who has a chance to drive this -- it is absolutely spectacular.

US 550 then levels out  onto the much gentler Western Slope of the Rockies and  in a short time we found the never-heard-of Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

What can we say about this magnificent park:

#1. Not that crowded -- we scored a campsite in the park two days before going...  We had to 'vary' our date by one day sooner, but who cares -- that's an extra day on this basically epic road trip year.  

This lady shared our campsite at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

True pictures of VanLife -- the Beta Version #2 of Baby Beluga is still plywood and unfinished wall, and boy, do I wish I had doors behind which to hide all that mess.   Nonetheless entirely functional.  Breakfast of grilled cheese and sausage after the South Rim hike -- read on! 

#2.  The canyon is  a Paul Bunyan-sized hole in the ground.  Not as long or as pastel-y as the Grand Canyon (It is in fact, black), not as deep as Hell's Canyon, but steeper than either and more amazing than you can imagine.   My photos don't do it justice, so here's the classic one from the Park Service -- taken from the bottom of the canyon.  We didn't go there.

We were told a story when we first got there about a woman -- supposedly in our age group -- who had hiked to the bottom of the 1800' vertical trail the day before.  It took her an hour.  And then it took her five -- FIVE - hours to come back up.  Supposedly there's even a chain along the trail that you can grab to help you.  We are impressed for sure.    Secretly, though, our  guess is that descent hour was, as ours would have been if we were as daring as she, spent on her bum, sliding down.  Some prayers might have been involved.   And if it were us, we'd still be there, waiting for the little basket thing that comes down from a hovering helicopter to rescue idiots who get themselves into five hour pickles.  So very impressive of  her, but alas, we know our limits.

The canyon is so narrow and deep that it looks like Mr. Bunyan unsheathed a serrated knife and sliced through the ground.  The average depth of the canyon is 2000 feet and the north slope is said to be 96 degrees -- not sure how its measured, but this sucker is really steep, and craggy and really impressive.  Most of the rocks are black gneiss, but there's some  parts of the North Wall striped with white pegamite.   Totally beautiful.   We hiked the south rim -- looking at the North rim which is steeper because it gets less sun in the winter.   Spires, Criss Crossing Spires, Painted layers of different colors, stunningly amazing.  This 5-star show has a roaring backup singer -- the seldom seen (its really hiding in the  very narrow bottom of  the canyon)  rapid-filled and treacherous Gunnison River.  (Read the history of its exploration on their web site.) 

From the NPS Geodiversity Atlas (an pretty nifty resource)

Our pics from the South Rim -- varying degrees of success. 

Look at what wind can do to a tree on the edge:  Tie it in a knot.

You can get a glimpse of the Gunnison River at the bottom .

The start of a trail  down to the river is seen in the picture on the right.  It is to Bill's right (picture center)  and just behind him.  It just drops out of site before you even see it! 

That South rim trail passes right by the visitors center.  We went in, looked at the exhibits -- all good -- and then while Bill rolled his eyes, I headed for the gift shop and bought us each a T-shirt and two books for me.  Ever - patient Bill carried those purchases as we finished the hike.  What a sweetheart! 

We never went to the North Rim -- there was a drive along it, but Baby Beluga wasn't allowed!  She measures two feet longer than the park service allowed for the North Rim Road.     So we ate some breakfast,  drove the south rim scenic tour, finished with the park and headed back down the western slope of the Rockies.  

Quick Change of topic:  The questions we've been asked:  We love meeting and chatting with people along our travels.  Here we met some folks from Massachusetts, who were much like us:  Older and doing the road trip thing in a rig very much like ours, only not so white.  We include this to answer the question we are often asked about our bathroom!  So....This couple had the annoyance of a black tank.  That  means you can flush your toilet, but you have a tank under your van that gets filled with sewage and eventually you have to clean that out!  We have seen this done and it seems unpleasant, involving latex gloves and a dump station that costs money to use.  We have chosen another way: We have an Ogo (brand)  composting toilet that uses peat moss to 'compost' the, err, solids.  It claims it doesn't 'smell' and so far, it doesn't.  "Liquids" are collected in a separate container.  (Gentlemen, you have to sit for that to happen,) 

No, we don't leave the lid open, but inquiring minds always want to know.  

We empty the 'liquid' container daily and the solids a lot less often.  These chores are different, but no worse than cleaning any bathroom.  We're quite happy with it!   

About other 'utility' needs:  We carry 40 gallons of fresh water, under our bed, of which we can heat 4 gallons at a time.  There is a shower in the wet bath,  and an electrical system powered by 6 solar panels on our roof.  So we're pretty self contained! 

Trip Continued:  Back on the Western Slope we  picked up US 50 and ended up in Grand Junction. CO.  It is a city that's proud of its western heritage; it offered us the Museum of the West.  A lovely, but somewhat disorganized collection of pottery from various native American tribes and other nifty  artifacts from other times past.   My favorite was a saloon lamp!  Bill liked a rifle and pistol collection.  Really?  

We ended day with  planned parking-lot-camping at a LOVE's Travel Center in Grand Junction.  We had some left over sausage from breakfast and I decided those should become a hot dog dinner. What's a sausage-dog without a bun, so we went into the convenience store part of the travel center to buy them.  We searched through every kind of candy, souvenir, and truck-thingy you (or someone) might want, but we couldn't find  bread of any sort.  

Finally Bill found one loaf of white bread and one loaf of wheat bread in the whole, busy store! But no buns -- not there or anywhere.   Finally I asked.  The clerk then checked  and rechecked  the two-loaf bread section.  Nope, he couldn't find any hot dog buns for sale either.  And he looked like he couldn't believe it either.  After all, they sell quite a selection of hot dogs.  End of story:  the generous clerk (and the nice folks at Love's) handed us two hot dog buns from their bread drawer under the make-your-own hot dog counter.  They were warmed and free!  Dinner saved! 

About parking-lot-camping at a LOVE's Travel Center:  It is  free. And perfect for long travel days.  We're self contained, don't need anything, but a safe place to park.  Love's has  reliable Internet for our frequent evening Zoom meetings followed by a movie streamed on the computer!  There is no requirement to do so, but we do buy fuel-seems only fair.   #VanLife.

Retirement Lessons Learned:  Be open to adventures, but know your limits

VOYAYA!