Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

~My intrepid voyages have brought me to the city of Montrose in Colorado, where I found time to visit the nearby Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  It's one of America's newest national parks, designated as such in 1999 (although it was a U.S. National Monument since 1933).  Like the more famous Grand Canyon, the Black Canyon was carved out of volcanic rock by a river; in this case, the Gunnison, which descends very steeply though the area.  

Naturally, I took some pictures while hiking to the various overlooks along the South Rim Road.  For reference, if you look at this map, all of the pictures below were taken at various overlooks along the South Rim Road (marked in red along the map), between Tomichi Point and Dragon Point.

The scale of this place is colossal and hard to believe even when you're right in front of it.  Notice the jagged ridges along the canyon walls, which consist of harder rock than the softer rocks that were worn away by the river below.

Speaking of the river, here it is, the mighty Gunnison.  It's named after a U.S. army officer who was killed by natives while scouting for a railroad to the west coast, although the river was known long before that.

The canyon area has three distinct biomes: the dry area near the top, dominated by scrub and hardy trees (and some not so hardy, like the one above); the middle, primarily evergreens clinging to the less-steep south slope, and the wet river area which sees wide variations in flow rate based on the season.

The Black Canyon is geologically fascinating because it's so easy to see different parts of the rock comprising it.  The long, light stripes seen throughout the canyon are comprised of a rock called pegmatite, which was formed by cooling lava that squeezed into cracks in the softer, darker rock (called gneiss) around them.  It's easy to see where the fissures were, because the  light "pegmatite dikes" remain.

Pegmatite is a type of granite usually composed of feldspar, mica, quartz, and garnet; the distinctive sparkle of mica is evident throughout the rocks of the canyon.

A wider shot of the canyon; can you make out the Gunnison river on the lower left?  Notice also the wide pegmatite dikes on the large cliff face left center.

Another shot of the river.  See how the ground to the right of the river is so much less steep than on the left?  That's because of the direction the canyon is facing at this point.  In this area, the left side received more sunlight, and so over a long period of time, was drier than the right side, which was shaded from the sun and therefore experienced less evaporation of moisture.  More moisture means softer ground, which over time collapsed.  See the grayish patch to the right of the river near the center of the picture?  That's a talus (also known as a scree) -- an area of loose, collapsed rock caused by weathering.

A panoramic image of the area from the previous picture.  Click on it for a larger view.

Jagged towers of stone soar into the air above the river.  This area was lower than from the previous pictures, so you can see that the area around it is greener.  This is because there's more shade from the canyon walls at this depth, which keeps moisture from evaporating as fast as on the arid land around the rim of the canyon.

This hawk was right at home soaring over the canyon.  I envy it' glorious freedom of movement: to soar from one side of the vast canyon to the other, plummeting down towards the river at will, alighting on spires of towering rock accessible to only the most ardent rock-climbers.  If you're a hawk, I'm sure this is a great place to live.  Move in now!  All rent generously subsidized by U.S. taxpayers!

Here is one such inaccessible area: a tiny forest on top of a large rock island in the middle of the Black Canyon.  A great place for a hawk to make a nest!  It might get a bit dry, but you can always fly down to the river for a drink and a bath.

...but how far down do you need to go to actually get to the river?  From this overlook, your guess is as good as mine: I couldn't see the bottom of this inky crevasse.  Hang on to your camera!

A-ha, there's the river!  Can you see it, there in the middle?  It's a loooooong way down.

A great view of some pegmatite dikes on the north wall of the canyon.  Imagine them as they formed: glowing hot lines of lava bubbling out of the rock, slowly cooling off while deep underground, only to be exposed millions of years later by the slow but relentless wearing away of the Gunnison river.

More pegmatite dikes.  They look like gigantic petroglyphs scrawled on the canyon walls, don't they?

In this case, even though the huge rock faces have broken apart, you can easily see where they were joined from where the pegmatite breaks off and continues.

These broken columns of stone seemed on the verge of tumbling into the canyon.

These strange rock formations look almost man-made, like the blasted, abandoned ruins of ancient structures.

This being a national park, there was plenty of plant and animal life as well.

Yellow flowers near the canyon rim.

It's difficult from these pictures to capture the scale of Black Canyon; you really have to see it for yourself.

Maybe this panorama (again, click on it) will give you a better sense of scale.

Don't step over the edge!  But if you must, aim for the river.

Until next time!