On Friday morning we left early for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, about a half hour from our hotel. This canyon is the steepest and narrowest of all the major canyons in the US. It is as deep as the height of the Empire State Building doubled.
The scenery was incredible. We took many short walks to viewing points along the road that went along the south rim.
The river was far below us, and we could only see it some of the time. You can see how steep the sides of the canyon are.
Lucy took this shot of me at one of the overlooks.
The painted wall shows some of the layers of different minerals as they were laid bare by the water cutting through.
In the afternoon we headed to Ouray, about 45 minutes south of Montrose. Ouray is called "the Switzerland of America," because it is surrounded by high mountains. Out plan was to go to the hot springs. But when we got there, a swim meet was going on and the pools were closed to the public. We were disappointed, but went to a hotel spa that allowed guests. It wasn't as great as the big pools, but we enjoyed ourselves. The snow-topped mountains below appeared on our drive.
One of Ouray's natural wonders is the Box Canyon Falls, up a narrow dirt road. It is a popular hiking spot and the parking lot was quite full, but we eventually got a spot. The picture below is looking straight down at the river below the falls, where some old mining equipment was abandoned.
I hope you can play the short video I took to see how fast the water comes down out of its slot and the volume of the roaring.
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