“MUCH ROCKS, BIG WATER”

In the Black Canyon, 48 miles of the
Gunnison River drop an average of
34 ft per mile & at Chasm View,
drop 240 ft in one mile.

In our travels we’ve seen lots of canyons. Canyons of all shapes and sizes, but none combine the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and foreboding of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River.  Native Americans avoided it. The Utes dubbed it “Much rocks, big water” but stayed out.  Europeans eventually conquered it in 1882 with a railroad route through the canyon, but it was costly & difficult to operate and eventually abandoned in 1955. 

Today the river is somewhat tamed by the dams up river, but still treacherous.  The bottom of the canyon is accessible, but only to the eager, willing and proficient. Expert kayakers must be prepared to drag their gear around dangerous and impassable stretches of the river to experience the thrill of class III-V rapids.  Advanced rock climbers can scale the sheer cliffs of the inner canyon or hikers can spend 2 hours scrambling down unmaintained draws and 4 hours crawling back up. As if rapids, cliffs, and steep draws (one aptly named S.O.B) aren’t a deterrent; poison ivy grows abundantly in the draws and along the canyon floor, ticks lay in wait in the gulches ready to pounce and afternoon thundershowers can make for a bad hair day.

The Painted Wall at 2,250 ft
is the tallest cliff in Colorado
Do you see the Dragon?

Fortunately for those of us not willing to drag a kayak, rappel down a cliff or crawl through poison ivy beating off ticks, there are paved roads and hiking trails along the north and south rim, (so we can at least look down with that flutter in the stomach) and one set of 16% switchbacks to the river at the eastern end of the canyon.

The National Park has 3 campgrounds: the South Rim provides electricity for tents & RVs, the North Rim has dry camping for tents & RVs and the East Portal along the river, is limited to tents and tiny trailers (max total vehicle & trailer length of 22 ft.)  We opt to stay near the north rim in the Iron Creek campground of Crawford State Park.  We have water, electricity, great views of the rolling hills, the reservoir and a small herd of deer who visit every morning and evening.

With full sun for 33 min/day
timing is everything.

Black Canyon Road, near Crawford is the only access to the north rim.  There’s a small ranger station but no visitor center.  The Chasm View Nature Trail starts near the campground and leads to a number of vista points, where we can view 2,000+ ft. sheer cliffs and look straight down to the canyon floor, safely behind heavy guard rails.  The North Vista Trail starts near the ranger station. After crossing the mesa, the trail winds along the canyon rim.  There are spur trails that take us right to the edge.  No civilized barriers here… just slick rock and sheer cliffs… down… down… down.  At the three-mile mark, we stop at Exclamation Point.  Here we have a strait view of the river through the canyon.  The cliffs are so steep that the river is in full sun for only 33 minutes a day… and we hit it pretty close to this window.

Exclamation Point
Top of the Painted Wall
No Guard Rails Here… and it's
2,250 ft  straight down! 

The south rim is the civilized rim.  We start at the visitor center and catch a short film about the Canyon.  Then it’s a cruise along the South Rim Drive with stops at all of the turnouts.  Some of the views are right off the road, while others have a short hike to the viewpoint.  Every view is breathtaking.

Gunnison River below Crystal
Reservoir Dam
hard to believe this turns into
class V rapids...

The East Portal Road is the only access to the river.  It’s paved with a series of 16% grade switchbacks.  At the bottom of the road, the Gunnison diversion dam feeds the GunnisonTunnel.  This 5.8 mile engineering marvel diverts water from the Gunnison, through the mountain, to the arid Uncompahgre Valley near Montrose.   The road ends at the Crystal Reservoir Dam (no public access to the reservoir here.) The river is flowing and from the number of anglers present we assume that this must be a good spot for fly-fishing although no fish were harmed during our visit.

Besides great scenery, for driving and hiking around the canyon there are numerous roadside fruit & vegetable stands, selling local organic goods… Our Colorado favorites: Olathe Sweet corn and Palisade Peaches are still on the menu… YUM!

THE LAND OF CHAPS AND TRUE GRIT…

Ranches and
Rugged Peaks

Ridgway, Colorado lies in the Uncompahgre Valley, surrounded by the rugged peaks of the Cimarron’s and San Juan Mountains. The town was originally founded as the headquarters for the Rio Grande Southern narrow gage railroad serving the areas rich gold and silver mines, ranches and farms.  In the 1960’s the town and surrounding landscapes served as locations for various western movies, including How TheWest Was Won and John Wayne’s True Grit.  Today, the railroad is gone, the mines are closed but ranches still dot the valley. The town is home to art galleries, studios, boutiques, restaurants and is designated a Certified Creative Arts District by the State of Colorado.  It’s like walking through a Ralph Lauren Catalogue, which is no surprise, since the designer’s 1,700 acre Double RL Ranch is just outside of town.

Ridgway St. Park

The Pa-Co-Chu-Puk (Ute for Cow Creek) Campground at Ridgway StatePark is our home this week.  Our full hook-up spot backs up to the Uncompahgre River below the Ridgway Reservoir Dam. 

Ouray - The Switzweland of
the Americas

Just south of Ridgway at the base of the San Juan Mountains is the town of Ouray (pronounced You-Ray.) Ouray is famous for year round spectacular scenery, shopping, dining and hot springs.  In the winter the frozen waterfalls in the Ouray Ice Park draw climbing enthusiasts. We go to the Ouray visitor center to get the 411 of the area.

The Ouray Historical Museum is housed in the original (1887) Ouray Miner’s Hospital.  Each of its 30 rooms hosts a different collection, including: mining, gems & minerals, the original hospital, ranching, railroad and Native Americans.

Phosphorescent Minerals

Nesting Black Swift

Box Canyon Falls

The City of Ouray Box Canyon Park is just above the city. It boasts a nature center, the Box Canyon Falls and three short trails. We start with the High Bridge Trail.  This takes us up to a footbridge at 8,100 feet above sea level that crosses the falls and connects to the Ouray perimeter trail.  The short climb rewards us with outstanding views of the mountains and surrounding forests above the town.  Unfortunately a large number of evergreens are victims of the Pine Bark Beetle.  The Falls Trail is mostly expanded metal walkways and stairs.  It winds along Canyon Creek all the way to the falls.  The thundering water cascades between and behind walls of stone it’s wet and loud, but that doesn’t discourage the rare Black Swift that summer’s here in the Rockies.  The final Nature Plant Loop winds along the creek, past the hot springs pipe that feeds the public hot pools in town and back to the visitor center.

Colorado's Forests are not
too healthy these days...

The San Juan Skyway Loop – considered one of the most scenic drives in the U.S. is an all day 232-mile loop starting in Ridgway and passing through Ouray, Silverton and down to Durango.  It loops back up through Cortez to Dolores and up to Telluride and back to Ridgway. What makes this loop so special is the spectacular variety of scenery.  Some places it’s a four-vomit-road that clings to the mountain without guardrails. It winds along rushing rivers fed by towering waterfalls, through forests and flowering alpine meadows past old mines, and ghost towns and over sagebrush mesas. A great sampling of what this area has to offer.  We’re now convinced to explore the area more… and of course we’ll have to stay around for the Palisade Peaches and Olathe Sweet Corn through the summer…

THE ADVENTURES OF DAVE AND DIMPLES VOL 4.07

THE ADVENTURES OF DAVE AND DIMPLES VOL 4.06

BACK TO THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT…

Last view of Kansas

Is it the people or the scenery?

It’s as if we haven’t had enough of the bovine aromas in Dodge City, we stop in La Junta, Colorado for a quick overnight… ahh the ever present scent of cattle by-products…  TheKOA Park is right off the highway it’s ok for the only park in the area.  The manager was a bit spacey: “Can we get some propane tomorrow morning before before we leave?” “Sure I’ll be here.”  We show up at 10:05AM to get propane and there’s a sign on the door: Sunday hours 8:00AM to 5:00PM Closed from 10:00AM to 1:00PM.  You think she could have mentioned this?

La Veta, Colorado is located in Southern Colorado and sits at an elevation of 7,000 ft at the base of the

Fresh snow on the mountains

Spanish Peaks and Sangre De Cristo Mountain range. Here we stay at the I Love Lucy RV Park.  (Just love that name.) This is a cute intimate park in town with the usual basic amenities and a vintage Airstream that they rent out. They will be closing for the season in a few days so we stay till they close.

Legendary!

In town we restock supplies at Charlie’s Market, La Veta's full service grocery store. Family owned and operated since 1937 they have a nice produce department great butcher shop a deli and an old-fashioned ice cream fountain! 

Aspens & snow

The Highway of Legends  (as in Legends of gold) is considered to traverse some of the finest mountain countryside in the country so we set out armed with our trusty Canons to see what we can shoot.  A side road beckons, it snowed last night up here and the dirt road is muddy and slushy with snow still piled along the shaded parts. We drive for a few miles and then decide that Dave’s tires are on their last legs and it would be prudent to turn around. We drive the entire loop stopping often and realize that there is so much more to explore in the area… we’ll be back!

Next it’s on to Taos and the Taos Valley RV Park. A nice mid sized park with full hook-ups and good WIFI in a location in near town. After setting up we head out looking for some local flavor.  

On the recommendation of the RV Park clerk we stop at El Taoseno. The décor leaves a lot to be desired.  The place looks like a dining hall in a retirement home complete with: cheesy Halloween decorations, chipped Formica topped tables, funky carpet and a geriatric clientele.  The food is reasonably priced. The Chicken stuffed Sopapilla is super-packed-stuffed with flavorful chicken and smothered in a green chili sauce and lots of cheese – quite tasty.  The Taoseno Beef Taco with Green Chile is also quite good.  Service is attentive and friendly.  So if you ignore the ambiance this is an OK place for a decent meal that won’t break the bank.

In town we visit the Governor Bent House and Museum.  This is a strange collection of the old and the odd in the former residence of the first territorial governor of New Mexico.  Other than the setting being the Governor’s house the only items really pertaining to Governor Bent is a two page typed essay describing his violent demise and a few artifacts relating to the incident.

There are lots of shops vying for our dollars and some succeed.  The Chiripada Winery Tasting Room convinces us to purchase a bottle of their 2011 Shiraz Reserve and a 2011 New Mexico Port.  Prices are a tad on the high side for the quality but not insanely high.

Rio Grande Gorge

NM Sunrise 

An early morning trek to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge grants a glorious sunrise and frozen noses.

On our way back we stop at Michael’s Kitchen (based on the full parking lot) for breakfast.  The Breakfast Enchilada filled with eggs and cheese and smothered in green sauce is excellent and the Huevos Rancheros better than most. Portions are generous and service is relaxed.  On the way out we succumb to the bakery temptations and take home an assortment of fresh baked pastries.

There’s lots of road construction around the Taos Pueblo so we opt to visit next time we get to this area, but we did stop in the Casino for an hour to play with their one armed bandits – we broke even.

San Francisco De Asis

The San Francisco De Asis Church is one of the most famous photographed landmarks in the area.  We time our visit to catch the late afternoon light.

Across the street is Old Martina’s Hall. It’s a little before five when dinner service begins but happy hour is on… only when we enter, no one is around. We wander about and check out the huge stage and dance hall in the rear, the beautiful southwest architecture and a wonderful exhibit of weavings displayed on the restaurant walls.  We finally locate an employee and she heads off to find the bartender.  OK it’s a little slow tonight… Our waitress shows up and goes ahead and seats us in the dining room.  We order a couple of cocktails (happy hour half price YEA!) and peruse the menu.

 

Old Martinas, Enchiladas,
Chile Rellenos, Beet Salad
and empty plate.

We share the roasted beet salad. This dish is artistry on a plate.  Dollops of beet foam surround thin slices of roasted beets, topped with baby greens, granny smith apples, candied nuts and topped with a molten cheese ball. The vinaigrette dressing is crisp and perfectly balanced with the sweet beets and tart apples.  We mop the plate clean. For entrees we choose the Pecan Encrusted Chile Rellenos, filled with melted Brie with a habanero mango coulis.  It’s a great modern take on a classic. The Rolled Green Chili Chicken Enchilada is accompanied with posole, black beans, salsa Fresca, guacamole, and a spicy tempura jalapeno.  The dishes are fresh, flavorful and stunning to behold.  Only a few other diners come in and a few folks gather around the bar.  According to our server, this restaurant is a popular spot when favorite bands come to town, but tonight: no music, no crowds, just great food and service.

Taos, we’d like to stay longer… the days are sunny and warm… BUT… pipes are starting to freeze at night… we WILL be back but for now… so it’s on to Santa Fe…

k