Colorado Day 1

We were excited to add Black Canyon of the Gunnison to our National Parks list.

It was time for one more vacation before we got back to school. We wanted to add a few of the lesser known national parks to our list, so we targeted Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. This trip was just a week long, but with Bear Lake, Yellowstone, and FSY for the boys, we were wringing the last few drops out of summer.

We got on the road just after 7 o'clock on Monday morning. It's more than 5 hours to the north rim of Black Canyon, and we planned to do that lesser known side in one day. As we got close, we were surprised to turn onto a rural road in a tiny town and head off through the fields. We weren't at all sure we were going the right way. Eventually, we found a sign that turned us on a dirt road, and a few miles later we entered the park. There wasn't a ranger in sight, but we pulled into the campground, found a table, and made sandwiches for lunch. 

We seriously wondered if we were headed to the right place.

After we ate, we took a short nature walk right along the rim of Black Canyon. It is a really steep, beautiful canyon. It looked as if the earth had been gashed very deeply with a massive knife. There was nothing that you could really say as you approached except for "Wow!" Dad read the entire brochure, which Mark declared, "The saddest brochure ever," as we walked along the rim in awe of the depth and narrowness of Black Canyon. That brochure really was dark and fatalistic.

This canyon is stunning!

The walls are so deep!

We also stopped by the old Bristlecone pine trees!

We had a longer hike of three miles that we wanted to do, but Dax hit his middle toe on the basement door frame, and it was bruised so badly we thought it might be broken. Still, he bravely clopped along the trail to an overlook called Exclamation Point. We enjoyed spotting some cool birds along the way, including towhees, hummingbirds, jays, and a hawk. We even spotted a few bunnies on the way back to the car. 

Dax was such a trooper to hike with a broken toe.

Mom and Dax brought up the rear this hike.

We loved the views of the canyon.

Made it to Exclamation Point!

Mark might be a little too close to the edge.

The end of the hike was amazing!

Best boys ever!

Spotting a hawk takes some bushwhacking.

We also took some 4th grade pass photos.

It was close to four o'clock by the time we finished hiking, but the drive along the north rim is short, with only five overlooks along the way. On the drive, we saw a beautiful bull snake crossing the road. We stopped and made sure he made it safely. The overlooks were amazing, too, but there is really no way to get this beautiful canyon in a picture.

Save the snake!

Seth jumped into this picture at the last second.

Can you see how deep the canyon is here?

We really liked the north rim of the Black Canyon.

If we could have flown, we'd only have been a few miles from Montrose where our house was located, but the drive from the north rim is around an hour and a half. We made it in time for dinner where we ate and then got to our house. It was not the nicest place we'd stayed, but it had enough beds for everyone and a TV where the kids watched a Disney movie before bed.