15/06: Black Canyon of the Gunnison North Rim and Scenic Drive
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
Today we are going to the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. As the crow flies it's about 19 km, going the north route through Delta and Crawford google maps claims 102 km taking about 1 1/2 hours, going the south route through Cimarron and eventually finding a place to cross the water google maps claims 136 km taking about 2 hours. In the pursuit of adventure we decided to go via the north route and come home via the south route. The south route was much more interesting.
Interesting rock we saw as we driving to the North Rim.
We have seen signs indicating cows on the road countless times and finally today we saw cows on the road.
It was very interesting looking across the canyon seeing where we were yesterday and knowing we were standing on what we saw yesterday. Again the photos do not do the canyon justice.
A lot of the cedar trees are short due to the harsh environment they are living in. A few do grow to a substantial size. I'm standing beside the tree so you can see how big it is. The black streaks on the rock is canyon varnish. This shear cliff is popular with climbers though we didn't see any.
The river.
A couple of the wild flowers we saw today.
A different rock structure, these rocks were very flat and squarish. I wish I new more about geology so I could explain why the rocks are so unique here.
There were large areas of these wildflowers.
The south route followed the Gunnison River which was dammed and became a reservoir, then another dam and another reservoir, then a third dam (which produces hydroelectric power) and a huge reservoir. There were also lots of hills and curves on this route.
Interesting rock we saw as we driving to the North Rim.
We have seen signs indicating cows on the road countless times and finally today we saw cows on the road.
It was very interesting looking across the canyon seeing where we were yesterday and knowing we were standing on what we saw yesterday. Again the photos do not do the canyon justice.
A lot of the cedar trees are short due to the harsh environment they are living in. A few do grow to a substantial size. I'm standing beside the tree so you can see how big it is. The black streaks on the rock is canyon varnish. This shear cliff is popular with climbers though we didn't see any.
The river.
A couple of the wild flowers we saw today.
A different rock structure, these rocks were very flat and squarish. I wish I new more about geology so I could explain why the rocks are so unique here.
There were large areas of these wildflowers.
The south route followed the Gunnison River which was dammed and became a reservoir, then another dam and another reservoir, then a third dam (which produces hydroelectric power) and a huge reservoir. There were also lots of hills and curves on this route.