Black Canyon

We came through Montrose and then headed east but took a northern detour to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, a national park, simply because it was nearby. Geologist Wallace Hansen wrote, “ Some are longer, some are deeper, some are narrower, and a few have walls as steep, but no other canyon in North America combines the depth, narrowness, sheerness and somber countenance of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.”

We arrived at the visitor’s center at dusk, donned our cross country skis and followed the park road to the next look out beyond where the road was closed. The sky and the changing light were much more amazing than I could capture. We skied back to the voyager in the bitter cold bright moon light.
Colorado has experienced 250% of normal snowfall this winter which has caused a lot of problems for wild animals. On the way we saw dozens of wild turkeys feeding on hay seed in cattle lots, deer huddled right at the edge of the roads, even great elk making their way through the snows.