Thursday, April 8, 2010

10:15- left to drive in the car to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The elevation ranges from 6547 to 9040. We couldn't see hardly any of it. The northern and eastern rim opens in May; but we figured we could at least see the southern rim. Well, only 2 lookouts were open. The elevation at the visitor center is 8400 and we were able to see some of it, but not to the bottom of the gorge.
The Gunnison River flows through this canyon with so much force, it carved a gorge with the bottom of the gorge a half mile down. You need a permit and to be very physically fit to even climb down the mountain to the bottom. They say it's the biggest thrill in the US for mountain climbers. For centuries it was considered impossible. It is 2 million years old, 2300' deep, at points 2300' wide, runs for 53 miles and has canyon walls that are straight up with the depths of the earth's crust showing at the bottom. The water flows so hard and fast it carves out the hardest rock found in the US- precambian, granite, schist and gneiss. In one century the water erodes away just 1" of rock! Each year the Gunnison River carves away the equivalent of a human hair. They say it is the most difficult water to ride in the US with many having lost their lives trying.
It was named after Captain John Gunnison who was an explorer for the Railroad. The Gunnison Tunnel was also named after him when they finally figured out how to arrive at the bottom. Many people lost their lives trying. Palmer, the visionary dreamer for the railroad, wanted to build a Narrow Gauge Track through this canyon. After much money, lots of time and workers, he was only able to get down as far as the upper canyon. In 1881, 400 Irish and Italien men built his railroad by hand with picks and shovels in 18 months. Palmer called it the Scenic Line of the World. In 1882, they tried to explore the lower canyon, but it was impenetrable. Torrence in 1900 went down again with 2 wooden boats; lost both boats and gave up after only 3 weeks. The roar of the water down at the bottom was so deafening and continuous it almost set them crazy. The force of the water is so strong he could not control the boats. In August, 1901, Torrence and a new guy, Abraham Lincoln Fellowes went this time with rubber rafts. They decided to flow with the current instead of against it. After 2 weeks they reached the deepest and narrowest point, named it the Falls of Sorrows. Each guy had to jump into the falls and ride it around the boulders and down to the bottom of the falls without the raft. After much praying they jumped in and came out on the other side, still alive!
Torrence and Fellowes surveyed and found the best spot for a tunnel to be built to bring much-needed water to the town of Montrose, which was all arid desert. In 1905 they started work on the tunnel; they blasted through the hard solid rock to build a tunnel 8 ft wide X 10 ft deep X 6 miles long. It has turned the arid desert valley into prosperous farms for vegetables, fruit and cattle.
The canyon rims are covered with Pinyon pine trees, Gamble oaks, Utah serviceberry, yellow balsamroot, boxelder trees and juniper. Mule (pronounced as 2 syllables) deer, beavers, elk, bear, Andipper birds, mountain lions(cougars), Stellars jay bird, yellow-bellied marmots, porcupine, red-tailed hawks, and magpies- which are not on the east coast of the US. They are black and white with a shiny navy streak. At the bottom of the Black Canyon is some of the best fishing in the world. They have HUGE rainbow and brown trout and several other kinds of trout; but it is a very long hike to get to the bottom, and then it's even harder to get back up. There are always hawks riding the thermals of the Canyon and grousse on the ridges.