Black Canyon of the Gunnison Natl Park

June 28, 2011 – Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park

Here is another National Park you probably never heard of, but it is really an amazing Park. It is a mini version of the Grand Canyon, but in some ways more dramatic. It is about a half mile deep, with both sides of the canyon almost vertical., to the point where it is really inaccessible. Although people have lived on the rims of the gorge, there is no known history of any people inhabiting the gorge, including the Ute Indians that lived in the area for centuries.

Geologist Wallace Hansen wrote about Black Canyon – ‘Some are longer, some are deeper, some are narrower, and a few have walls as steep, but no other canyon in North America combines the depth, narrowness, sheerness and somber countenance of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.’

The canyon is so dramatic because the Gunnison River that formed it over millions of years is an extremely fast moving river due to a radical drop in elevation, and a large volume of water in the river, about 12,000 cu ft of water per second at flood stage.

In just 48 miles, the Gunnison River loses more elevation than the Mississippi River does in it’s 1,500 mile trip from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, which makes the Gunnison’s erosion power tremendous.

In 1909 a water diversion tunnel was dug to provide water for irrigation to farms in the nearby Uncompahgre Valley, which continues today, significantly reducing the erosive power of the river in the canyon.

Enough writing. Here are some pictures.

The reason it is called the Black Canyon is because very little light gets down to the river level, making the canyon seem imposing and dark.

But there are lots of pretty things up on the rim to look at too.

Scaredy-cat won’t get too close to the edge without a big rock to lean on…..

This rabbit ran across the trail in front of us and ‘hid’ in the bushes, but 'Stalker John' found him.

Depending on where you are in your day, some sights are more welcome than others.....

This robin and I had a whistling conversation for about 15-20 minutes while I went about taking other pictures. She kept responding to my whistles, or was it my imagination and it was me that was responding to her whistles??  I don’t know if I fooled her or she fooled me, but it was fun talking with her.

Imagine how long and tough the struggle was for this pine to survive on the rim with all the wind up there, knocking the tree over first as can be seen by the trunk on the ground, then twisting it into this gnarled form as it continues to win it’s struggle to grow upright.

Here is the tired couple after a long day in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

But on the way out of the Park I took a sunset picture…

… and about 3 minutes later we came across a doe right on the side of the road, and she was kind enough to pose for a picture.

Not one to let a good opportunity pass by, here is a combination of the two previous images.  I wish this was a genuine original image, but I did make the best of what I had with Photoshop…..

Not too Shabby..... even if it is contrived.