Colorado and New Mexico: Day 6 Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico, July 10, 2023

 Remember how we had television issues last night? Well, the room's alarm clock went off at 6 and we hadn't set it. My husband K got up at 6:45 and I got up when my alarm went off at 7.

We went to the breakfast room at 7:25 and it was 72°. As I often do, I got oatmeal, because I figure it might balance anything else I find to eat during the day. However, it turned out to be rather soupy, even with the brown sugar and raisins I added. I supplemented it with a blueberry muffin and orange juice.

After breakfast, we went back to the room to wash up and pack up.  We put on sunscreen, because we knew there would be no running water at the canyon. We loaded up the car and checked out.

At 8:14, we drove next door to the Phillips gas station. The odometer now read 25209 and we'd put 287.1 miles on this tank. The car took 6.52 gallons at $3.849 each for $25.11. K cleaned the windshield, too.

We headed off at 8:17 with me driving. Our overnight stay had been west of the national park. So, I retraced some of the ground we'd covered yesterday. However, yesterday, we hadn't been quite aware of where the road was to the park.

At 8:44 (25225), we reached the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Visitor Center.

We spent a good deal of time in here, exploring the exhibits, shopping at the small gift shop, and talking to a ranger, who was originally from Florida. He'd recently transferred from Cape Hatteras, because he's looking to experience different areas of the country. Smart guy.

There were samples of the four main rocks forming the canyon. Gneiss (which I've been saying wrong- it's "nice") is the most common and it is a metamorphic rock. Schist is also metamorphic. Pegmatite is an igneous rock that, while molten, was forced into the metamorphic rock of the Painted Wall, leaving pink stripes. According to what I found, quartz monzonite, the fourth rock, is a granitic rock, with monzonite being an intermediate igneous intrusive rock.

The Gunnison continues to carve this canyon, albeit less so than in the past. That is because of dams upriver that have siphoned off some of the flow. It's called "black" because so little light gets down to the canyon floor, not to mention all the dark rock.

 

 

 

We walked out onto the back porch of the Visitor Center to take a walk down the trail to Gunnison Point around 9:15. I knew that I wasn't going to like the height, but I also knew it was necessary to see the canyon floor to get a good feel for the park.

As we headed down the path, I looked out and across the canyon wondering what it must have been like for the first person who encountered it. Did they come across the relatively flat land on the other side or did the come up the hillside we'd driven up? Where they on foot or horseback? At 8000 feet above sea level, were they shocked to come across this canyon with a river 1800 feet down?

 

Of course, there were wildflowers. We saw fleabane, Aspen fleabane (note how the morning sun hits the flower nearest the wood), yellow rabbitbrush, and Indian paint brush. That's Gambel Oak below the Visitor Center.

These rock formations just blew me away. Water turning into ice and expanding and then melting helped break so much of it into orderly blocks. Some of the rock was soft enough to be cut into small mini canyons.

That saying of "life will find a way" was definitely in evidence. Look how big those trees are!

Sometimes we could catch glimpses of the river; others, we saw the rapids. We could hear it all the time, however.

The end of the trail was on a point with wooden rails around it. The point itself was rather rocky. The NPS had not really tried to smooth it out. It was a bit of a climb for me with the bad knee. 

The rock face across the canyon was rather interesting. Yes, it was black, but there were some light colors. It was also interesting to notice that it was not the smoothest of walls, The Gunnison River had not cut straight down. It was almost wavy, caused, no doubt, by varying degrees of hardness of the rock. And, as you can see, sometimes nature finds a way and there are green plants growing on the rocks.

Thanks to the zoom on my camera and the phone, we had a decent view of the river far below.

We decided to walk a bit along the Oak Flat Loop Trail. It was named that because of the Gambel oak that was so prolific there.

Another interesting plant we saw was called Big Sagebrush. 

They'd smoothed out the trail, more or less, up to a point that I felt was a bit too close to the edge for my comfort at times.

In this area, we had a different view of the Gunnison. Probably because we were west of the Continental Divide, the river flowed east to west. In this area, we could see it go around a bend. We could also hear it rushing by. Hopefully, the video I attach will let you hear it. Yes, that is me breathing a bit heavily due to the altitude.

Looking back on our side of the canyon, the side was covered with greenery, but definitely sloping.

As we turned back from the edge, the trail seemed to disappear into the Gambel oak.

Of course, it did not really disappear. It stayed a reddish path with rocks of various sizes. I also saw glinting pieces now and again. Picking one up, I found that it was mica.

Names for plants, when I could find them, were often interesting. This yellow one is Broom Snakeweed. Who comes up with this stuff? I can't identify the second one.

I thought this view was rather cool. It could have been back East in the Appalachians, where the mountains aren't so high. But, there is a hint of the canyon.

By 10:35, we were in the car and headed off for the next stop, Pulpit Rock lot, which we reached at 10:42 (25227). We were here for the 11:00 Geology Lecture. We took the opportunity to put on more sunscreen before we got out of the car. We went over to the area that had some benches, but, unfortunately, no shade. Ranger Austin, the one from Tampa Bay that we'd been talking to at the Visitors Center, soon showed up. I couldn't help but notice some storm clouds in the distance and asked how fast they'd get here. No way to tell, but he started a bit early.

I turned in the other direction and saw the Island Peaks in the distance, but no sign of a storm. They did look like a volcanic cone.

There was another flowering plant with a bizarre name- sulphurflower buckwheat.

The ranger told us about and showed us pictures of mimetoliths, which are stones that mimic or resemble things. In this case, he showed us a dragon and a serpent. At least that is what the stone on the cliff looked like. 

He also explained that the Black Canyon is not called "black" due to its rocks, but rather due to the darkness down on the canyon floor and the shadows that were cast.

At 11:25, thunder made Ranger Austin responsibly stop his presentation and recommend we all seek shelter. Of course, everyone hurried out to Pulpit Rock to get photos amid sprinkles.

The view into the canyon out at the aptly-named rock formation was quite something. A helpful sign noted that the canyon wall on the north side had a 93% slope and got maximum winter sun. The southern slope, on the other hand, had a 63% slope and got minimum winter sun. The sign pointed out that this had an effect on erosion:

In the winter, when Black Canyon receives the majority of its precipitation in the form of snow-the sun is lower in the southern sky.
Sunlight shines mostly on the north slope, evaporating moisture off the wall. Snow on the south slope remains throughout the winter. Melting and refreezing breaks up the south slope's rocks, creating soil and habitat for plants to take root.

The rain clouds were approaching fast.

The pink rock, Ranger Austin had told us, was igneous, while the black was metamorphic.

We took more photos as the clouds - and thunder- got closer. We then hurried back to the car and were in it at 11:35, when it started to pour. We got some water and had a snack, before driving onward.

The rain stopped at 11:43 and and 11:47 (25227), we were parked at Cross Fissures View. A sign told us it was a 357 yard hike out to the view. No, that's not far and not really a hike, but it's an unpaved trail at almost 8000 feet and for those of us from Florida, that caused some heavy breathing. That said, the view was pretty amazing, especially with the storm clouds in the distance.

When we got closer to the canyon, we could see that the rocks on the north side were not black at all here.

This is really a side canyon off the main one. With the zoom on my camera, I could see the breaking points that were created as water got in the rock, froze, thawed, and repeated.

At 12:05, we were back in the car and stopped about 2minutes later (25229) at Chasm View. Such a good view of the pink rock!

The canyon floor at this point was little more than the river.

We got to see some fauna! A golden-mantled ground squirrel was tucked on a tiny rock ledge.

We found the US Geological Survey marker, which was a cool thing to see. Once again, we had a side of the canyon next to us that was away from the current riverbed.

We also got a cool view of the rain that was now off in the distance.

On the way back to the car, we saw some yucca in bloom. Very pretty!

At 12:23, we left, but just one minute later, we were at the parking area for the Painted Wall. K decided to stay in the car and I headed off down the trail. Helpful NPS signs out at the rim told exactly what kind of stone was in the pink area and also showed the height of the wall compared to some famous man-made structures.

The wall was fascinating. The intrusion took place underground and if  were not for the river's carving action we'd never get to see this. Even as the river carved the wall in curves or the wall cracked in spots, the line of intrusion continued. I really wanted to be able to say I saw the creatures you are supposed to see, but I did not.

From this spot, I was able to really see the Gunnison far below. Luckily, my camera can zoom really well. In the one shot, you can actually see into the water. Sometimes, it was fairly calm, others, not so much.

I was fascinated by the breakage evident on the rocks. Some were spiked, but others were broken off as cleanly as if they'd been sawn.

There was a bowl-shaped area as the river bent. It reminded me of the bowls carved out by glaciers and it made me wonder if that had happened here.

When I turned to head back to the car, I saw this wonderful view.

It wasn't all rocks and vistas. I found this Juniper tree, which was more of a bush.

I was back at the car at 12:44. As we left, I checked the temperature and found it was now 76°,

We reached Dragon Point at 12:47. This time, we both got out to walk down the trail. The trail was very different here. It seemed to be more of plates and slabs. But the juniper still managed to plant themselves, although, at times, they were more like drift wood.

 

There was a really good view of the Gunnison before it disappeared to the north (west?) at the end of the trail.

Either I don't have a good imagination or I wasn't looking in the right spot, but I really couldn't find the dragon.

But, look how great the rock looks in this shadowed part of the canyon. It is not washed out by the sun and you get a good view of the pink.

The juniper trees were truly terrific here. Look how they are growing out of this dry, rocky ground.

The sulphurflower buckwheat was doing very well in these conditions, too.

At 1:05, we were moving down the road again. We reached High Point, which I suppose is the highest point of the park, at 1:10 (25231). But, there was no place to park. So, we drove back to the visitor center, arriving at 1:24 (25237). We saw a tour bus disgorging tourists and realized that this was as far as they'd get in the park, because that thing could not get down that road.

The parking lot was fuller than earlier. We waited in line for the restroom/ latrine and to take a look in the binoculars. Then, we were headed back out by 1:38.

As we headed down the hill to East Portal Road, we had this lovely vista.

Soon enough, we were on US 50 headed east. Yesterday, there had been signs of work on this road, when we came through, but no workers. Now, we were hitting traffic cones. At 2:15, we were stopped in the absolute middle of nowhere. We were not the only ones. We rolled down the windows. I was driving and told K to keep an eye out, as I was going to take a nap. I put the car in park, turned it off, and pushed the seat back to get more comfortable. I did doze off!

K woke me, when he saw traffic finally coming from the other direction. When they finished, we started up at 2:53. There was loose gravel and impressive canyon walls.

At 3:08 (25270), we finally reached the end of one-way traffic.

By now, it had been a really long time since breakfast, and the almond butter bars we'd brought were not cutting it. Finally, at 3:44 (25301), I pulled into Arby's in West Gunnison. I know it was "West" Gunnison thanks to the giant W on the hillside. What is it with giant letters out west? We'd seen it in Sparks, Nevada last summer.

Inside, K decided to take advantage of a promo they were doing on their new Pit-Smoked Beef Meal for $10.49 and I ordered their Gyro Meal with lamb and Curly Fries for $9.39. Both meals were good.

We were on our way again at 4:33, this time with K driving. Just 11 minutes later (25310), we were stopped on Rte 114. It was pretty, but, again, nowhere.

The stop was only 3 minutes, but it took until 5:04 to travel just 1 mile, only to be stopped again.  We were moving again in 1 minutes and it was a full mile before the train of cars on our side finished. There wasn't one on the other side.

At 5:31(25339), we saw the sign for the Continental Divide, but too late for a photo. Ten minutes later, we had this  rather dry vista on Rte 114.

This interesting uplift was just five minutes after that.

At 6:02 (25369), having finally found civilization, we stopped at a gas station in Saguache to use the restrooms. Coming out, we roamed about the store a bit to stretch our legs. I was searching for dark chocolate, but had to settle for a 100 Grand bar for $3.50. Not only were prices inflated at this altitude, so were the chips bags.

Onward we went at 6:12. Three minutes later we saw this uplift and the cut the highway department decided to put through it for the road.

By 6:35, we were in Center, Colorado on Rte. 285. The land just stretched on flat to the mountains in the distance. But, at 6:39, we suddenly saw agriculture.We had no idea what was growing, but it was definitely a crop. We continued to see agricultural sights.  The wall of hay seemed weird- until we saw another one.

 

 

At 7:34 (25447), in the town of Antonito on Rte. 285 , we saw the most amazing thing. So amazing that we had to pull over into a gas station. It was the Oscar Mayer Wientermobile. What a totally random place to see it!

At 7:39, we were on the road again. I got a call from the hotel making sure we were still coming. I explained about the traffic delays we'd hit. She said she would put the key in an envelope with my name on the lobby door and to call if there were any problems.

It was 7:47, when we reached the New Mexico border. We stopped for photos of the signs. I took the back of the NM one for the end of my photo album. We were also on the land of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. And, no, the land was not enchanting.

At 8:05 (25470), we were stopped again for construction of some ilk. We started up again at 8:17 and it was a cool 74°. It wasn't until 8:24 (25473), that we were finally through the patch with the pilot car. At least we were seeing a bit of sunset.

After following what seemed to be a convoluted back way into Taos, we finally reached Casa Benevides Inn at 9:05 (25508). It seemed to be a bit of a complex, but we found parking around the back of one part. K waited in the car while I crossed the alleyway to the main building. I went to the front and found the lobby door, but no envelope. I had to call the woman apologetically and she told me there was a lobby door on the inner courtyard. She acted as if I should have known this.

It turned out that K was actually parked close to our first floor room. We unloaded the car and checked out the room, which was a bit warm, even with the air conditioner going.

K shocked me by saying he wanted to go out for ice cream. ( We later found an open container in the freezer in the wardrobe.) So, I searched on Google and found a Baskin-Robbins nearby that was closing at 10. We hurried out at 9:32.

We parked at the shop at 9:40 (25510). After a bit of back and forth, K finally said he wanted a banana split to share. We got it with Chocolate Mousse, Cherries Jubilee, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for $9. Since they were cleaning up to close, we sat outside on a bench and ate it. It felt a bit weird. 

We were finished by 10:07 and headed back to the hotel. We got back at 10:13 (25511) with happy stomachs, but exhausted. 

My phone noted 7, 539 steps for 2.6 miles.