colorado

Black Canyon of the Gunnison: Magnificent

October 9, 2009 by Shelli

Jerry, the boys and I are right now spending time in Montrose, Colorado, and having a great time. We are here visiting my sister, Alicia, her husband, Denny, and their awesome children, Mallory, Mae and Royal.
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Montrose, home to about 15,000 people, is a great mountain town. Located at 5,800 feet elevation, it’s bigger than the small town of Lander, WY that we live in, but not quite a city.

If you’re into the outdoors and natural beauty, you’ll agree with me that Montrose’s greatest asset is its location. We see why this is. It’s the “hub” that connects the popular mountain town of Telluride, about an hour away, Ouray, a half-hour away, and Gunnison an hour away, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Ridgeway State Park, and other notable destinations. Also in the greater Montrose region are the Gunnison, San Juan, Uncompahgre, and Rio Grande national forests.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, near Montrose, CO.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park has been on our list of places we want to experience for some time. So this morning we headed out with Alicia and Denny and our kids.

As the park’s name suggests, the Gunnison River and the canyon it carves, is the star of the national park. The national park contains 12 of the river’s 48-mile-long canyon of the Gunnison River.

The Gunnison River descends 43 feet per mile through the canyon, making it one of the steepest mountain descents for a river in all of North America. (Wikipedia: By comparison, the Colorado River drops an average of 7.5 feet as it flows through the Grand Canyon.) In fact, the the most significant descent of the Gunnison River occurs in the park at Chasm View dropping 240 feet per mile!

My husband, Jerry, me, our three sons, and my sister, Alicia, at Black Canyon.

The Black Canyon is so named because it is so steep that it’s difficult for sunshine to reach into the canyon, resulting in a dark, “black” canyon that is often in a shadow. The narrowest section of the canyon is only 40 feet across.

The extreme depth of the Black Canyon is a result of several geologic processes acting together. The Gunnison River is primarily responsible for carving the canyon, though many other geologic events combined to help form the canyon as it is today. According to the National Park Service’s Black Canyon website, no other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer walls, and startling depths offered by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

I love canyons and have stood at the edge of some spectacular ones, including the Grand Canyon, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Black Canyon is an astounding a sight to behold.

It took my breath away.

Here’s a video:

The highlight of our trip to Montrose, CO., of course, has been spending time with Alicia, Denny and their children. We went to their oldest daughter, niece Mallory’s, last high school softball game, and celebrated Mallory’s 18th birthday. Mae, Mallory’s 16-year-old sister, also had a softball game, and my nephew, Royal, had a football game. It’s been a great time!

Together but in 4 (5) different states

April 8, 2009 by Shelli

Hahaha. This is a good one: Our family found out what it was like to be together but in 4 different states. In fact, my husband, Jerry, and I decided that if Delirious counts as a state, which we think it does, we stood in 5 states at one time. It was very cool.

This really happened as we descended on Four Corners on April 6 during our recent Spring Break road trip adventure.

Standing together but in 4 different states

After touring Mesa Verde National Park, we traveled through Cortez, CO, to experience Four Corners, the monument that marks the point at which four states come together: New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah.

It was sort of a hoky experience, but well worth it. We were glad we included it on our itinerary. You pay $3 per person to enter tribal land and then take turns waiting to stand briefly in all four states. Fortunately we arrived early in the morning and early in the tourist season and only had to wait about five minutes before a friendly bystander offered to take our photograph.

Losing Books, our Minds … and Time

April 6, 2009 by Shelli

Day 3 of our Spring Break vacation found us on a road trip.

It started with a laugh. My husband, Jerry, turned 46 on April 6. So we prepared breakfast in bed for him like a good family should and then he opened a small batch of gifts we had packed for the occasion. Among the gifts he received was a book from me called Younger Next Year. It’s well known for its wisdom and use of humor to enlighten about how men can “grow old gracefully,” and uh, even improve their memory as they age.

Here, Jerry holds the book for the first/last time.

Well too bad he didn’t read it before we left.

Jerry had set it on the roof of our car outside the yurt in Mancos State Park for a staged family photo. 10 miles later I asked for the book figuring I’d read some excerpts out loud for both of our benefits as we motored down what would be a long and open road that day.

It was then Jerry said some cuss words and lamented the fact he forgot he had set it on top of the car. At the same time we passed a Neighborhood Watch photo that featured a bandit on it. The boys started talking about how it was probably a bandit that stole the book.

After a few minutes of Jerry racking his brain and looking throughout the car, and around the car, we decided to back-track on a bit of a treasure hunt. Wolf, our 9-year-old, said, “This can be our geocaching adventure we talked about.”

And besides, so what, we weren’t in a hurry… we were on vacation, right?

We backtracked and got out looking in the weeds, and returned all the way to our yurt site, but to no avail. All we can hope is that someone â€“â€“ other than Jerry â€“- will age gracefully as a result of my gift.

After lots of extra driving on what was already going to be a drive day, we turned our thoughts toward Four Corners.

As you can see from this video, the boys were less than thrilled to learn we’d be spending the bulk of another day motoring down the road.

Over Mountains to Mesa Verde National Park

April 6, 2009 by Shelli

On Day 2 of our Spring Break vacation, after driving through a blizzard, we headed south. We had hoped to travel from Ridgway State Park south over the “Million Dollar Highway” to Durango. My husband, Jerry, had been researching (freaking out about) the scenic drive for weeks if not months leading up to our trip. I so wanted to travel that stretch. I’ve heard how exposed it is and as a result, what a scenic road it is. Jerry had a little anxiety trouble when we traveled Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park a year ago so he was a little concerned about how it would go.

Lucky for him, the weather didn’t cooperate. The sign at the start of the route flashed “Caution Ahead” and advised no unnecessary travel. Well, damn, I thought. But it wasn’t worth risking our lives, and what the heck, Jerry’s birthday was the next day and he had deserved an alternative route.

With that, we took an alternative route that took us near Telluride and over the 10,222-foot-high Lizard Head Pass, which is beautiful drive in its own right.
Here’s a glimpse into the great views along that scenic stretch of road:

Soonafter, we arrived to warmer temps in Mesa Verde National Park, in southwestern Colorado.

About 1,400 years ago, long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people living in the Four Corners region chose Mesa Verde for their home. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. It’s an amazing place.

Mesa Verde, which means green table in Spanish, became a national park in 1906 to preserve the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Puebloans, both atop the mesas and in the cliff dwellings below.

The sites in Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.

Once in the national park, we drove 15 miles to the Far View Visitor Center where we purchased tickets for the Ranger-led tour of Cliff Palace. ($3 each, and the only close-up view of Cliff Palace requires the Ranger’s presence)

Cliff Palace is Mesa Verde’s largest cliff dwelling. It has 150 rooms, plus an additional 75 open areas. Twenty-one of the rooms are kivas, and 25 to 30 rooms have residential features. The number of Ancestral Puebloans living in Cliff Palace at any one time was 100 to 120.

Our sons, ages 9, 7 and 2, loved the tour. When we asked what their favorite part of Cliff Palace was it was learning about the human remains that were found there, and also getting in and out of the cliff dwelling.

Climbing ladders to get out of Cliff Palace

To get there you descend sharply in tight and narrow passages between rocks. To leave you climb several ladders. It was a great adventure and a cultural experience.

Here’s a short video clip to give you a taste of the tour:

(Mesa Verde includes over 4,500 archeological sites, 600 of which are cliff dwellings.)

Grand Canyon or Bust: 6 states in 7 days

April 1, 2009 by Shelli

We are getting ready for quite a spring break adventure.
On April 4, our family will set out in our car, with tent and camping supplies in tow, to travel through parts of 6 states in 7 days.
It’s Grand Canyon or Bust. Or, perhaps The Wyoming Griswolds’ 6-State Roadtrip.

View Larger Map

Sure, Grand Canyon is our “destination”, but no question, the journey will be the trip.

We’re traveling south from our hometown of Lander, WY, to Baggs, WY, to Craig, Grand Junction and Montrose, CO, ending Day 1 in a yurt at Ridgway State Park in southwestern Colorado. Lovers of national parks, we’ll make a quick side trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Day 2 will be the Million Dollar Highway to Durango. For the record we were going to bring our camper, but after my husband, Jerry, researched the Million Dollar Highway, our plan to camp in comfort was swiftly tossed out. (The scenic byway better be worth it!) He had what we think was an anxiety attack when we traveled Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park last fall. Despite his experience at climbing to top of 13,000-foot-high mountain peaks, driving above treeline makes him uncomfortable.

Day 2 will be exploring the ancient cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park. We’ll spend our second night in another yurt at Mancos State Park.

Day 3 will mark Jerry’s birthday, so as a present, we’ll find a shower hopefully in Cortez, NM, before we head to “Four Corners”, where we have to travel for purposes of standing where the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado connect.

Then, we’ll point our vehicle to Utah’s Goosenecks State Park, Monument Valley and to the South Rim of Grand Canyon where our true “camping” adventure starts.

We’ll meet up with my parents on our third evening, who are renting an RV for the first time.

On April 7, “mommom and poppop” will head to Flagstaff, etc., to explore and be tourists with our three sons while Jerry and I do the monster hike… down South Kaibab Trail starting at 6am, stop in at Phantom Ranch for brief Snickers indulgence, then return via Bright Angel Trail. Should be a 10- to 12-hour hike for us and we can’t wait. We did it once before in 1999 but that was before we had kids and I had all my media capture gadgets and a blog to post them to. This will be part of what we are calling our We Can Still Do This Tour.
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Day 5 will be a blast. We’ll go to Williams, AZ, and watch an Old West gun fight reenactment before boarding the Grand Canyon Railway to the South Rim. Living history, interpretation and great scenery are promised during the adventure. After 2 hours, we’ll be dropped off at the South Rim to spend 3 hours on our own touring and taking shuttles to all the “grand” overlooks before riding the train back “in higher style.”

On Day 6 we’ll head West with our sights on the Historic Route 66 and Hoover Dam, before surprising our young sons with a night at Trump Tower, complete with huge swimming pool and near the circus circus festivities. (This is where we change the name of the trip to “From Rock Towers to a Trump Tower”, or from many stars to (just) five stars.)

Day 7 we’ll head to Salt Lake City, one of our favorite cities in search of another great campsite, before heading home just in time for the traditional Easter Egg hunt at my parents.