Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado

This place took my breath away...20 years ago and again on this trip. It is magnificent.

And this graphic is amazing! Looking at the canyon and thinking of the Empire State Buildling at half the canyon's height just doesn't compute in my mind.

Here's the canyon with its impressively tall walls. Yet the photographs cannot even begin to capture the amazing majesty of the canyon's depth and complexity, and never mind the numerous side canyons joining the main canyon. The Black Canyon was given its name because it is so deep and so often in shadows the sides of the canyon appear to be black. There are portions of the canyon that see only 33 minutes of sun a day.

We hiked to Morrow Bay Dam and also down the Pine Creek Trail (thanks Leslie for the suggestion) to the Morrow Bay Boat ride loading area. It was too early in the season for the boat ride, but both these hikes were fabulous but we were sorry to miss the boat ride.

Ha ha, "don't turn your back to take a selfie."

We met these two women on the trail head of the Pine Creek Trail, all 232 steps of it, including snow and ice. One woman is from Gunnison and the other Crested Butte. They are forming a new hiking business called: Ramble & Frolic.

And, although called Pine Creek there wasn't a pine in sight.

Yesterday our weather turned to a sudden flurry of snow and wind in the afternoon after a sunny morning hike.

The campground at the main entrance to Black Canyon was open but only for the hardy campers of Colorado.

We camped at Cimarron Camp, about 1000 feet lower than this Black Canyon camp. There was no snow on the ground where we camped, although we could see it on the nearby hillsides. The temperature got down to 16 degrees during the night. This camp must have experienced zero degrees at night, and there they are in tents.

~~~

"Colorado and Wyoming are America's highest states, averaging 6,800 feet and 6,700 feet above sea level. Utah comes in third at 6,100 feet, New Mexico, Nevada, and Idaho each break 5,000 feet, and the rest of the field is hardly worth mentioning. At 3,400 feet, Montana is only half as high as Colorado, and Alaska, despite having the highest peaks, is even further down the list at 1,900 feet..."

~ Keith Meldahl

Rough-Hewn Land: A Geological Journey from California to the Rocky Mountains

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Spit in Their Eye

I love our public lands! I'm in awe at the opportunity greeting me every day as I travel this nation's roads.

Our National Parks, National Forests, National Monuments, National Preserves and Reserves, National Recreation Areas, National Historic Sites, National Battlefields, National Scenic Rivers and Lakes, National Historic and Scenic Trails, and other public assets are the treasures of this nation. And we all have access! Peoples' outdoor uses are vast -- 4-wheeling, bicycling, birding, skiing, climbing. The campgrounds, even off season, are bursting at the seams with overflowing campers. Trail heads always have a gaggle of cars. Boat ramps are in heavy demand. Horse camps are well used. There's an awkward balance between providing facilities and preserving the land but, for the most part, that line, although always fluid, is thoughtfully selected and gently enforced.

Each visitor center has been designed thoughtfully to blend into the natural setting. They are well maintained and staffed with well-trained personnel. Visitors flock to them for their educational displays, tastefully-selected souvenirs, information and maps. Park films are outstanding, both in their entertainment and educational value. It's easy to feel pride in our public lands, right down to the toilets which are clean, well stocked with toilet paper, and often have sanitizing soap for hand cleaning. Plus the toilets always provide space and access for handicap use. It's impressive! I can almost feel the pain of the government worker who posted this message:

At our finger tips we have access to a wealth of educational opportunities, spiritual peace and quiet, physical stimulation,  and awe inspiring beauty. These public assets help protect wildlife, geology, open spaces and history. But it doesn't stop there, our public lands also provide opportunities for private-use activities as well.

Ed and I were boondocked on DNR national forest land outside the Canyonlands's gate (the inn was full) when a man drove up in his pickup pulling a trailer holding one saddled horse and two dogs. He was a real cowboy. Tall hat, boots, plus he wore fringed leather chaps. He was searching for two cattle and he'd seen them in this area a couple of days ago.

"Have you seen them?" he asked. "No, sorry," we said. "Mind if I hike up to the top of that rock to see if I can spot them?" "No, not at all." At the top of the rock he pulled out a monocular to help spot his cattle. No luck. "Thanks" he said, as he drove away. A couple of hours later he passed by our camp with a friendly wave. His trailer now had one saddled horse, two dogs, and two cows.

  

Naturally there are disagreements over the mix of uses, lease fees, water rights--all the details of land management can be snarly. The cattle can compact the land and pollute the water and mining can do even more damage but compromise is critical. Although I, like every other citizen, can find fault, I also must commend our federal agencies for their effort to bring balanced management to the land.

 Have you ever been engaged in one of those "the government is all bad" conversations?

..."National parks are underutilized", or

..."the national forests cost the tax payers too much money", or

... "public lands should all be sold to private business".

       

Sputtering in frustration, I determine the next time I suffer through one of these conversations I'm just going to spit in their eye.

~~~

"As we Americans celebrate our diversity, so we must affirm our unity if we are to remain the 'one nation' to which we pledge allegiance. Such great national symbols and Meccas as the Liberty Bell, the battlefields on which our independence was won and our union preserved, the Lincoln Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and numerous other treasures of our national park system belong to all of us, both legally and spiritually. These tangible evidence of our cultural and natural heritage help make us all Americans."

~ Edwin C. Bearss, NPS Chief Historian, 1981 - 1994

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The Detour

We were on our return trip to Moab from a drive up Scenic Highway 128, along the Colorado River, where we'd camped next to Dewey Bridge the previous night. As evening settled in we took a trail to "the top of the world" but fell short of our destination -- a ten mile, one-way, hike. Nevertheless, we felt like it was just us, the cows and a couple of boondockers way up over the Colorado River Valley.

Suddenly, a morning inspiration and a detour onto highway 96 to Castle Valley became our new destination. Castle Valley turned out to be just that -- a valley of assorted summer homes with no town other than a cluster of mailboxes along with a kiosk of town notices. High up a narrow twisting road, Higway 96 turned into 73 and then 127 as it looped back around to Moab. What a treat! We stopped to play in the snow; to gasp in delight at the views; and to congratulate ourselves that we'd taken this amazingly beautiful side-trip-of-chance.

The map Ed and I were using was left over from a road trip to Utah Brad and I took a number of years ago. The map had two curious penned-in circles on it. One circled "Warner" and the other "Geyser Pass". Our route up to Castle Valley and then up, up and up through these beautiful mountains brought us to these circled areas.

The reason for the trip to Utah Brad and I took all those years ago was for Brad to attend Holt's wedding. During the wedding celebration itself I was camped along the Colorado River where there are eleven small campgrounds along this scenic highway 128 route. While there I spent time alone riding slick rock trails near Moab. I also drove through Arches National Park, and explored other parts of this beautiful area while Brad was several-days-wedding-occupied. My memories are vague, so finding the circles on our map was enticing. Who circled them? Why? The logical explanation for the circles was Brad marking Holt's wedding celebration bike route. Ed and I felt like we were retracing a romantic wedding event. We were left with warm feelings for both Brad and Holt, and their friendship dating back to University of Colorado graduate school days, as we sleuthed out this mystery of the circles-on-the-map.

Returning to Moab we went out for lunch, followed by coffee, as we lingered in the sunshine and the Saturday afternoon festivities in this lively town of outdoor adventure. Watching the equipment pass by is quite the all-day parade. An unending barrage of unimaginable and weird off road vehicles as well as automobiles and vans and pickups hauling kayaks, bicycles, and rafts, plus campers of every make and combination from handmade funky curiosities to fancy European rigs. Every imaginable machine passed by, from huge to tiny and every size in between. They sported solar panels and gear carrying devices of amazing creativity. If you're not hiking, biking, off-roading, kayaking or doing some other extreme sport in Moab you are definitely not with the program!! This is not the town for physical inactivity.

Tonight we are boondocked off Highway 313, the road to Canyonlands and Island in the Sky. All campgrounds were filled by the time we left the Moab parade to seek out a campground. Our off road camp is a cow pasture and an ATV paradise. Each group camped here has vehicles -- big, small and everything in between -- for each family member to spend the day riding these dirty, dusty, rough backroads.

Fortunately, the roar of engines stopped at dinner time, not to resume again for the evening. Entertainment became campfire quiet and this machine-noisy-camp-by-day became a mulled music of voices and crackling fires as the sun set.

~~~

"But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers."

~ Lewis Hyde, Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking

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Arches National Park

Photographs say it all...Arches is beautiful, dramatic, inspirational. The red stone contrasted with the green/gray foliage is stunning. And, when the clouds lifted, the blue, blue sky just made it better.

Balanced Rock

Landscape Arch

We walked about four miles, exploring Arches' nooks and crannies. Last night we'd camped at Horsethief Campground, up the road to Island in the Sky, Canyonlands, and returned there again tonight. Camping at Arches was full. Many national park campgrounds are first come first served. Not Arches. They accept reservations. -- but filled up six months ago.  So, if you plan on staying at Arches, book well in advance.

Tonight it looks like rain. We're cozy in Thistle and we would actually welcome a good rain storm. It's dusty and dry, plus a lightening storm would be stunningly beautiful looking out over the camp's miles of open vista.

~~~

"If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture--that is immortality enough to for me. And as much as anyone deserves."

~ Edward Abbey, Desert. Solitaire

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