Black Canyon of Gunnison

Here we go again: Gunnison the best national park  that you never heard of. At least I didn't till I was researching for the trip. As soon as you pass the entrance, the Tomochi point will make you go "what the.." The black walls on the other side, the North Rim, vertically drops 2500 feet right in front of your eyes as you pull into the parking lot. Then the spectacle goes all the way to High Point 10 miles into the park past the visitor's center.

There will be at least 2 off days here as I'll be commuting to Ouray and Telluride from here. Evenings are fine though. It's now 7:30PM and the air feels real nice and cool. 

I left Grand Junction this morning. I would've taken US-50 -- yes, the same US-50 that runs by my house in Sacramento -- if I were to come to Montrose directly. But I first had to stop at Grand Mesa which was on the way to Montrose on route 65. I was on my way to Grand Mesa yesterday, and changed my plan when I realized that Grand Mesa was on the way to Montrose. I went to GJ downtown instead and left Grand Mesa for today on the way to Montrose.

I didn't  know what I was going to find there. It wasn't on my plan and I only found out about it the day before while I was looking for things to do in Grand Junction since I was staying there for one extra day. Grand Mesa was on the top of the TripAdvisor's list ahead of Colorado National Monument. And rightfully so. What a view the Land's End afforded. Most of 10 mile long road to Land's End was gravel and I kept saying whatever was out there better be good. Grand Mesa is the world's largest flat mountain with elevation of 11,000 feet. One side of it is an endless praire once you get up there, and the other side a precipitous cliff. You can see the valley below as far as it fades into haze. You are supposed to be able see several fourteeners of San Juan mountains from there. But the haze was so thick, none was visiable. But the grand view of the valley was enough.

It was downhill to Montrose from there. The temperature rose steadily to 95F from the mid 70s as I descended. Then the road climbed back up to Black Canyon where I'll be perched for the next 4 days.

There is something about being outdoors in tent. I was happy in Bryce Canyon, and Monticello, despite some hard hikings. Check into a motel, and then I descend into CFS swamp. The day after I checked in to Econolodge in Grand Junction, my condition went down to 5, barely above the sickness. It's also the second day of the recovery after a hard hike, which tend to be a struggle. But the 2nd day of the recovery doesn't bring me down that low when I'm in the tent. It's as if you let yourself go in the comfort of civilization and then you collapse. Or it could be being in the nature promotes dopamine, the brain inflammation retardent. 

Tomorrow, I'll give Warner Route a shot. It drops 3000 feet over 3 miles; it is a harder route to the river than the popular Gunnison. But the Gunnison permit was sold out by 3PM so I took what's available. It's amazing how fast things sell out when it is free. Apparently everybody wanted the easiest one. Total of 6 miles and 3000 feet is beyond my limit. Rising or dropping that fast takes a lot more toll on you than 3000 feet over 10 miles. I'll give it a try and then turn around if it becomes too much. No "Warner or bust" this time.

Meanwhile, The day seems to be getting shorter: it's getting pitch dark well before 9PM. I didn't realize it was already August 11 well past the summer equinox. But it's still warm here in Montrose. I don't know if I'll survive the temperature in upper 80s in my off days; I may have to find shelter in Montrose somewhere.