Colorful Colorado

Part One: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

“When sleeping women wake, mountains will move.”

Chinese Proverb

Last weekend we traveled to Colorado for a wedding. Montrose, Colorado, to be exact. In typical me fashion, I had a list of places I wanted us to visit, and a couple of hikes I was hoping we could try. Also in typical me fashion, I forgot to take the altitude, and the heat, into account.

Our original plan was to fly into Denver and drive five hours to Montrose, but fate (or a mechanically faulty plane) had other ideas and our direct flight was cancelled. After a few stressful minutes, we ended up flying into Dallas, and then Grand Junction. This meant a MUCH shorter drive (by about 4 hours) but I was a little bummed about missing out on the scenery between Denver and Montrose. This was my fourth trip to Colorado and I was eager to show my fiance all the beautiful things I had seen on my previous trips. Luckily our return flight was still leaving from Denver, so I knew we’d get our scenic drive on the way home.

Once we arrived in Montrose the fun really began! I won’t bore you with all the friend visiting and wedding details (except to say that it was a beautiful wedding with both laughter and tears- those are the best kind, right?) but will jump right to our first adventure, which was to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. You can find lots of information on Black Canyon on their website, of course, which I always recommend. It’s important to check and see what restrictions are in place before you head out as they change constantly, and you can do so here: Black Canyon NP

We did the South Rim, pretty much a straight shot from Montrose, taking Highway 50, to Highway 347, right up to the National Park Entrance. Now, things to know- during summer, they are busy and there can be a line just to get in. Try to get there before 10 a.m. or after 2 p.m. for less of a wait. The North Rim Road is closed during the winter, so if you want to see that side, you’ll want to go during summer months. It’s also a bit more a drive to get to Highway 92; you’ll be going allllll the way around the park and back up again to get to that entrance, from Montrose. We didn’t have time to visit that side, unfortunately.

All National Parks take the “America the Beautiful” pass to get in, and/or a one time fee. I think the fee can change per park, but here at Black Canyon, it was $20 per vehicle, $15 per motorcycle or $10 per bicycle or pedestrian, for a one time entrance. Each park has their annual entrance pass, as well- only $40 for Black Canyon- and then you have the aforementioned “America the Beautiful” pass. This bad boy is an inter-agency, annual pass, that will get you into EVERY National Park in America. It costs $80, but there are special, free/lower cost versions that you will want to look into if you are military, a senior citizen, or blind or permanently disabled. Considering it only takes 4 visits to reach this $80 fee, it’s very easy to make this pass pay for itself. We go to Mount Rainier a lot, but have used it in at least three other National Parks, so far, as well.

Once inside, the best advice I can give is: bring lots of water and enjoy. And, stop at the Visitor Center. I know some people think “tourist trap” but the reality is they always have information about the place you are visiting. If you’re into history, they have that, too. For Black Canyon of the Gunnison, it was all about how OLD these giant rock walls really were, (think millions and BILLIONS of years, my friends) as well as what types of rocks you are seeing. I’m not as into the geology side of things, but I’m just as capable of saying ‘Ohh pretty sparkly rocks!” as the next person! 😉

There are lookouts every couple hundred feet along the South Rim, and the Rim Rock Trail actually begins before the Visitor Center, and the first lookout, Tomichi Point. We didn’t do the trail, mainly because it was later in the afternoon than we would normally start a hike, anyway, and it is much hotter in Colorado than Washington. (It was roughly 94 degrees outside.) Throw in the altitude (we found a geological benchmark at one of the lookouts, which stated that we were 7,700+ feet above sea level) and we realized very quickly that hiking was not going to be a comfortable option for us on this quick trip. We had some great views from the lookouts along the road, however, and were quite content to just enjoy those. There is plenty of parking at each lookout (if one is full, keep going to the next one and hit that stop on the way back down, as people cycle through pretty quickly) and the longest walk was around 600-700 yards from the parking area. We also saw lots of chipmunks and even a couple of little lizards.

Colorado is a different kind of beautiful than Washington, or even Oregon (another popular hiking state for us) and we were awed by the rocks, colors, and sheer grandeur of their “hills” and canyons. There are a few more places in Colorado that I am eager to explore, so we will be back, and we did visit another favorite spot of mine the next day: Ouray. Stay tuned for that post!