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Spring Break, 2023--Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

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We woke up leisurely on Thursday morning because I didn't think Black Canyon of the Gunnison was very far from the town of Gunnison.  What I didn't know is that rock slides along the road leading into the canyon are frequent, and one had happened the night before.

I understand now why this national park is one of the least visited.  Despite being otherworldly and awe-inspiring, it's difficult to reach and is very rustic.  In fact, there is no potable water at the park at all so we needed to bring in any water we needed to stay hydrated.  We started driving through the canyon to the park, and we watched our GPS add (at times) up to an hour and a half to our initial hour drive time.  However, if our one lane of traffic was allowed to go through soon after we reached the flag guy, the time went back down.  At least the scenery along the way was beautiful!  I couldn't help but watch the elevation as well--the highest point was 11,000+ feet, although the park sits around 8,000 feet.

We finally reached the visitor's center and as we thought, most of the roads were closed due to the 400+ inches of snow the park had received over the winter.  Hannah grabbed a Junior Ranger packet, and we walked down to the viewpoint.  It was difficult to even take it all in--the canyon is deep and vast and like nothing I've ever seen.  


We also walked the Rim Trail (and finally pulled out our hiking boots), but it wasn't very long.  Hannah ended up taking a photo of me that I actually like ;-)


I couldn't handle the idea of getting back in the car for the five hour drive to Colorado Springs without moving my legs a bit, so we took the ranger's suggestion and just walked the closed road.  There weren't any sights to see from the road, but it felt wonderful to be out in the sunshine and moving.  And speaking of moving, exercise started Hannah's bowels a' movie' and twice she jumped off the road to use Nature's restroom ;-)  

Hannah returned her packet, took the Junior Ranger oath, and we were off, back up the canyon, hoping for free-flowing traffic.  But nope.  We ended up just sitting quite a while behind a semi with the label of "King Soopers" (which ended up being a grocery store in Colorado Springs).

We had some shopping to do in Gunnison--I had spied hemp baskets in a window and wanted one for my church basket, and Hannie just wanted to look around.  I got my basket, and we decided to grab a bite to eat before we headed back.  We ended up a dive called Mario's that had some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten.  Pesto linguini? Yes, thank you.  And pizza that was divine.  I sure hope those residents of Gunnison appreciate the amazing places they have to eat out!  And while in Mario's, I asked our waiter what exactly do people from Colorado call themselves.  Answer? Coloradans.


I was ever so happy to arrive at our rental home that evening in Colorado Springs.  We were amazed at we walked around and both wished that we had a house that nicely decorated! It felt so good to crawl into a comfortable bed and go to sleep.

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