10/22/16 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

I was looking forward to visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park—not because I knew what to expect, but because I really didn’t have a clue.

• Canyon?  Yep, got that!  
• Black?  Must be...  
• A river runs through it?  Probably the Gunnison River.  

Apparently a lot of other people know about as much as I do about it.  It only had a little over 200,000 visitors in 2015. (For comparison, the Grand Canyon had 5.5 million; Yellowstone had over 4 million; even Death Valley had over a million!) 

Tomichi Point is the first viewpoint after you head into the park.  Suddenly I understood what this place was all about!  Not only is it a big black canyon with a river at the bottom, it’s different than any other canyon I’ve ever seen.  The cliff walls are jagged and sheer; the gorge is deep and narrow; and even in the sunshine, it’s dark in color and emotion. 

At the South Rim Visitor Center, I learned that the rocks of the canyon are metamorphic gneiss (pronounced “nice”) and schist (pronounced like there’s no “c”; make sure you get the second "s" in the right place.)  I suppose I learned this stuff at some point in my life, but now I’m just going for the way they sound.  I realize that this is a novel approach to geology, but it works for me. Obviously I like the nice rocks best.

Before dams, the river slammed through at flood stage at 12,000 cubic feet per second with 2.75-million-horsepower force!!!  My mind can’t really comprehend this.  Even now, the river is classified as Class V to Unnavigable for kayakers..  (I’d tend to go with unnavigable and forget the whole thing.)

We stopped at (most) of the viewpoints, although some of them were a bit of a trek to get to the rim where the view was.  Some of the overlook signs even showed yardage. George still wasn’t feeling quite up to par (I know this because he’s not interested in golf yet) so at a few of the stops, I took a walk with both cameras. 

First stop was Gunnison Point, where there were stairs leading to a section of lighter colored rock called a pegmatite dike, a softer rock that’s .... The white band... across the canyon used to be connected to the overlook one.  Squint and you can see the river below.  Listen and you can hear it.

At Pulpit Point there are picnic tables...and a viewpoint.  It’s 134 yards to the overlook out on another chunk of rock handily available for tourists.  It’s easier to see the river from here.

There’s no information sign at Cross Fissures View (357 yards), so I can only hazard a guess about the fissures.  But the canyon wall on the north rim does look different. 

Rock Point (254 yards) is out on another pegmatite dike.  These rock islands should make me feel a little queasy, but they don’t.  Even looking down doesn’t seem to bother me. 

Devils Lookout isn’t much farther down the road, but it’s a little farther down the trail (607 yards).  Once again, no program, no sign, so I don’t know why the devil got involved.  I do know it’s a long way down.

Chasm View is near the road—or perhaps the road is near Chasm View—and the river is easy to see.  This is where the cliffs are steepest.  These signs are at the start of each trail to the rim. 

Painted Wall isn’t quite so close, but not so far either—it’s 200 yards that-a-way.  The sign says that at 2,300’, it’s the highest cliff in Colorado.  The lighter lines on the cliff were created when molten rock squeezed into fractures in the existing rock. (I’m not sure I ever knew that could happen, so I guess I don’t have to feel bad about forgetting it.)  

We skipped Cedar Point and drove on to Dragon Point, which is just a short 100 yards.  George stayed in the truck again so I was chief photographer.  I thought there was more painted wall at this viewpoint than at the one with the official name.  This is some wicked canyon!

Not sure how far it was to the overlook for Sunset View, but it’s not bad.

At 8,289’, High Point is the highest point (ha!) in the park, but the trail to Warner Point on the rim is a mile and a half.  George wasn’t interested in going, and I didn’t want to make him stay in the truck that long. 

By the time we made it back to the road to East Portal, it was getting too late to drive down to the river.  Hairpin curves on a 16% grade to the river--no vehicles greater than 22' allowed.  Since the water access is at the bottom of the cnayon, it wasn't in the sun anyway, so I let George convince me it was too dark.  I wish we'd gone...looking up from the bottom would have been really cool.

Click for more pictures:  Black Canyon of the Gunnison Natl Park 

10/18/16 - Colorado NM, Revisted

Been there, done that...well, yes, we have visited Colorado National Monument before.  But it's been four years...it was a really pretty place and after spending a week doing nothing, I wanted to go anywhere! George still wasn't feeling great, so we did one hike at a verrrry leisurely pace, then just hit the viewpoints to make sure nothing had changed.

Balanced Rock was still doing its balancing act.

I still couldn't figure out where the Historic Trail was--although I'm pretty sure they could have made this cattle drive without me!  Hard to believe this was the easiest way to get down off the mesa!

The view of Fruita Canyon, with the road we drove in on, and the town of Fruita across the Colorado River, was still impressive.

Saddleback Visitor Center was still there...but this time I paid a little more attention to all the parks on the Colorado Plateau.  Look at that!  We've been to all the parks around here, except for Black Canyon and Mesa Verde--and they're on the itinerary for this month!

Even though we'd done it before, I talked George into walking part of the Canyon Rim Trail that starts behind the Visitor Center. Sometimes you're really close to the rim and sometimes not.

...We walked on to see the giant rock formations in Monument Canyon.  I remember most of them.

....Then it was just a little further to the bookshelf observatory.  The official name on the National Register of Historic Places plaque is "Bookcliff Shelter", but I like "Bookshelf" better.  After all, it's facing the Grand Valley below, and in the distance beyond is a mountain range called "Bookcliffs". 

...Of course I wanted to go just a little bit more to Window Rock.

...After that we had to walk back to the truck, which we did on the road instead of the rim trail so I could be nice to George.  That's Saddlehorn on the left; the Visitor Center is just to the left of that.

From then on it was stops at viewpoints.  The first one was Independence Monument, which is 450 feet high, and the largest free-standing rock formation in the park.  Someone climbs that thing on the 4th of July and plants an American flag there.  Not volunteering for that duty!

I'll agree that the view from Grand View overlook is pretty grand, but I really like Monument Canyon!

The Coke Ovens were pretty much in shadow, so I took a picture in the other direction.  You can see some of the trails down below.  Next time we come, I want to do that! Wait'll I tell George that...

Artist's Palette is called that because of the variety of colors in the canyon.  Looks like pastels were the choice of the Artist of the Day.

At the viewpoint for Upper Ute Canyon, there's a slew of potholes in the sandstone at the top.  When it rains, microscopic animals hatch.  Here I liked the top better than the shadowed canyon down below.

At Fallen Rock, you can see where the rock landed, just at the base of the cliff.  Apparently it separated at it's base rather than from the top, so it just slid down the edge to land right side up. If a rock this size falls, and no one is around to hear it, does it still crash?

Red Canyon has dramatic layers of rock and striped walls in those bright colors I like so much.

Not sure how it got its name, but Cold Shivers Point overlooking Columbus Canyon is a lot different than the rest of the canyons.  

Then it was through the 3rd tunnel, down the big hill and home.  George was tired.

Click for more pictures:  Colorado Natl Monument 

10/11/16 - Thompson Springs Ghost Town

Thompson Springs Main Street

George was sick.  I was bored.  I wandered around the little town of Thompson Springs, which is about as close to a modern day ghost town as you're going to get.  Originally a railroad town, when they found coal nearby, it became a mining town too. Amtrak stopped passenger service in 1997, but trains still go through on a regular basis.  Apparently they still mine nearby--the coal sign was on someone's fence.

Railroad Crossing

There are fewer than 40 people who still live there; the business part of town has been defunct for years.

House and Well

Inside the House

Interior of Abandoned Building

Cafe and Bar

Bar Interior

This brick building used to be the train depot. After trains stopped stopping, it was converted to a restaurant...or maybe the depot was also a cafe all along. It too is closed now, but was used as a set during the filming of "Thelma and Louise"--probably before the holes in the ceiling.  Haven't a clue about the lawnmower.

Railroad Station, Later a Cafe

Cafe Interior

The motel is closed, but the hotel seems to be open--and for sale, just in case you're interested.     

Desert Moon Hotel

Another Abandoned House

Grocery Store

Left in the Field

Old Crane

Modified Historic Building

There's a sign on this building that says "Thompson's One Room School, EST 1907". Obviously it's been added onto at some point, cause that doesn't look like any one room school I've ever seen..  Looks like it might still be used for something, but there's no clue anywhere on the building about what that might  be.  (Disclaimer:  No children were injured during the taking of this photograph.  Probably haven't been any around here in a long time.)

Butte Outside Town