Sunday, September 7, 2008

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

We had a blast yesterday!! We had a soccer game in Montrose yesterday and decided since we were down there to check out Black Canyon. All I can say is "WOW!". That place is amazing!!! And it's hidden right there between Montrose and Gunnison. Not far at all. (I think I read it's 15 mi east of Montrose). We were so impressed we're already wanting to go back. The canyon is amazing. And we saw three deer within touching distance of our vehicle on our way out of the park. So my kids got a close up view of them! We also saw a stellar jay, tons of turkey vultures, squirrels and chipmunks. The kids got Jr Ranger booklets from the visitor center and worked on them all afternoon. But missed the chance to turn them in before they closed for the day. We plan on going back soon, so we'll keep them and turn them in then. We learned about different types of rocks (I'm a geek and find that interesting! lol), plants, etc. We even drove down East Portal road....which is intensly steep (16% grade for 5 miles....a 2000' drop in elevation!). But was well worth it. Once we got to the bottom and touched the Gunnison river, we talked to a park ranger and he pointed out a HUGE boulder that had dropped down recently.....he told us it was a 6 1/2 million ton (I think it was ton and not pounds!) boulder that fell some 2000' before landing on the road....it hit so hard it BUCKLED the asphalt and left a HUGE crater! This boulder was two to three times the size of my suburban!!!! The kids LOVED it because they actually got to touch the huge rock! Megan was being all shy and bashful in front of Justin, our ranger. lol. It was cute. On our way out of the canyon we saw our Stellars Jay. it was so gorgeous...and BRIGHT blue! It was an awesome day to say the least. Well, besides being scared out of my mind at the overlooks. Why did God create kids with no sense of fear!?? And a desire to scare the "you know what" outta Mom! hahaha. Poor me. I had a near heart attack several times! lol. Better yet, why do I have to have a fear of heights!!!! I hate that I have it. And I'm trying to work on it. But man! I tell ya. Sometimes it's so bad, I freeze up. Maybe I should do a "zip line" over the canyon. That'll cure me! hahaha.

Well, that was our day. So much fun. If you haven't been....you need to!
Hugs and Love,
Elysia





Rustler's Loop

Rustler's Loop
Overlooking the CO river

About Me

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Grand Junction, CO
I'm a "part-time" working mom of three, married to my best friend of 13 yrs...who loves to hike, draw, listen to music, play on the internet and hang out with friends!