Black Canyon of the Gunnison

We had to drive 60 miles back west to the park, and took the South Rim Road and stopped at all the overlook trails.  The temps started in the high 70's and ended near 90.  The elevation is over 8200 feet, so short hikes are GOOD.  We had lunch in the truck at the High Point because the tables were full.  We also went down to the river level using the East Portal road, in 1st gear almost all the way down a 16% grade (normal highway maximum grade is 6%).

This was one of the best national parks we have ever seen.  It is a spectacular collection of views of sheer cliffs, pinnacles,  canyons, and panoramas.  I shot and assembled some of the most complex multi-photo panorama shots because everything was so close and so large it would not fit in the wide angle lens.  One photo of the Painted Wall has two rows of five photos assembled as one panorama (2300 foot vertical cliff, highest in Colorado).  We recommend this park for everyone, but it is not a place to hike and explore for many days.

"The rocks that make up the cliffs of Black Canyon are some of the oldest in North America, dating to 1.7 billion years.  The cliff walls are 40 feet apart at the river and rise 1750 feet to the rim at the Black Canyon Narrows.  The river falls 480feet in this two mile section of the canyon, grinding and scouring the rocks in the relentless effort to cut even deeper.  the river and the elements have been at work sculpting this magnificent gorge, season after season, age after age, so that 2 million years later we can wonder at the marvels of nature."

31 new photos posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/rosser.tom/RVVacation2010#

As a point of odd interest, we spotted the Hymer RV from Germany (seen at Canyonlands - The Needles) twice today.  When we got back to town we were at 3/4 of a tank of fuel, so time to fill up!