Gunnison CO to Moab UT 9/2/15 - 9/13/15

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THE BASICS

En route from Gunnison to Montrose, we took a pontoon boat ride through part of the Black Valley of the Gunnison. From Montrose, we explored the Black Valley from the top as well as Ouray. On to Grand Junction, where our main focus was the Colorado National Monument, but we also enjoyed driving through the nearby town of Palisade and its orchards and vineyards as well as a welcomely-cool day on the Grand Mesa. At last, sadly, we left beautiful Colorado and headed on to Moab, Utah. Our leisurely pace has allowed us to visit Arches National Park twice, and hike in the mornings before the thermometer hits the low 90's.

THE FLUFF

To reach the Gunnison River for the boat ride, we climbed 242 steps down from the parking lot - no problem descending, but a bit harder ascending - and then walked a mile along the old rail bed to the boat. It is close to incredible that a railroad could be built through this very deep, dark because its walls are so close together as well as vertical, canyon. It became a famous, daring adventure to ride the train through the canyon, way back. The boat ride was quite benign, a leisurely hour and a half looking straight up cliffs that no one could climb, observing the varicolored strata formed by the combination of upheavals and grinding by the Gunnison River.

Montrose was somewhat of a delightful surprise. It is very "user-friendly", with several wooden platforms with chairs and tables that jut out into the road, abundant benches along the sidewalks, many massive Western-themed statues, tons of flowers, and a dozen-plus plaques detailing the town's history of the 1880's and 1890's, when it was a prime depot for carrying goods to and from the mines. Because the Uncompaghre Valley was dry, those amazing engineers decided to build a tunnel from the Gunnison River for irrigation purposes. The tunnel is 5.8 miles long, and the workers tunneling from east and west ended up within six inches of each other. The Gunnison joins the Colorado River to the north, in Grand Junction, but it already is partly diverted for irrigation.

We had a lazy day, partly waiting for an RV repairman to come and assess our refrigerator's failure to convert from electric to propane. We had gotten the electric clarified in Fort Collins, but the propane supply was still uncertain. Turns out, the problem was pine needles and bugs blocking the propane access spot. Whatever....

Our day to see the Black Canyon from above started out rainy, but cleared at last. The visitor center is very well-done. We drove to various overlooks. John drove to the bottom of the canyon, to the West Portal of that amazing irrigation tunnel. People compare the Black Canyon National Park favorably with the Grand Canyon.

Ouray, about 60 pleasant scenic miles along the Uncompaghre River south of Montrose, gave us a great day. Ouray is quite touristy - of course, you could expect that on a sunny Saturday of Labor Day weekend! We strolled along the rather steep streets of town, bought "scrap cookies" which are like chocolate chip cookies into which the candy store dumps all its varied fruit and nut and candy leftovers of that day, then visited a waterfall which goes through, not over, the rocks. No, we did not drive 12 miles south on the Million Dollar Highway. John teased about it, but he would have gone alone. No way! Instead, we went through their local museum, which was excellent. The building had been a miners' hospital and had quite a lot about medicine in past centuries, as well as several other featured rooms. I loved one photo in the toy room which celebrated the ingenuity of the children in town: in the center patiently stood a horse with a board across his back to serve as a seesaw.

In the middle of Ouray is a huge hot springs pool, and we enjoyed relaxing and soaking there for awhile. So many kids! We then treated ourselves to beers at O'Brien's Pub. To my surprise, a game was on the TV between Temple and Penn State. That seemed an odd matchup to me; when I got my M.Ed. at Temple, football was not a big deal there, though during my freshman year at Penn State, it surely was. Lo and behold, Temple won! We also chatted with a group of bikers, and a guy from Omaha told John that he looks like Warren Buffett. That made his day.

That Cedar Creek campground in Montrose was wonderful. The manager could not have been more friendly or accommodating. The whole place was nicely laid out and maintained. There was even a miniature golf course included. But our next campground, in Grand Junction, was one of the most wonderful anywhere. It was in a state park, and we had a panoramic view in all directions. We were so close to the Colorado National Monument that it was always clear in that direction, though more hazy elsewhere. We had campfires for three of our four nights there! The first time, just for the fun of it - until mosquitoes descended and bit into our enjoyment. Next night, we started the fire earlier and cooked hot dogs. For the third night, we bought beef and vegetable skewers at the local market. Really fun.

The drive from Montrose to Grand Junction showed the stark differences between the areas of the Uncompaghre Valley which received water from the Gunnison and the sage-covered rolling hills without irrigation. Grand Junction is quite a large city, with just about every major chain store outside the downtown, but a nice shopping area in town with independent stores and a hundred statues. We walked in town on Labor Day, when most of the stores were closed. Oh, well. We drove back east several miles on I-70 to Palisade, where the peaches so famous out here are grown, as well as grapes in vineyards. We drove along the scenic fruit road, which is all sharp right angles on roads named, e.g. C 1/4, F 1/2. Very interesting grid, with fractions of miles as part of the road names.

While visiting Colorado National Monument, John wondered whether the splendid red terrain we know is ahead of us in Utah and Arizona will be somewhat of a letdown after this spectacular place. The "Monument" is a tall ridge about 23 miles long, with numerous canyons and occasional hoodoo-like rocks. We started our visit gently with a nature trail into an alcove, and John read aloud all 30 pamphlet descriptions. Then we walked along a Rim Trail, ate our picnic lunch, and visited several overlooks and short hikes along the very windy and scenic (too weak a word) road along the Monument. We even found a route back to our campground which avoids urban junk and rides along rolling curvy roads through sage terrain with big brown houses whose occupants get to stare up at the Monument every day.

With both the Black Canyon and the Colorado National Monument, the story goes that one man became impassioned about that place and devoted all his efforts to getting it set aside as a special park. They spent decades championing the areas. Thanks, guys.

We were not in a hurry to head toward Moab because of the temperatures in the low 90's there, and not much better in Grand Junction. So we were advised to go to Grand Mesa, miles east on I-70 and then south past Powderhorn Ski Area. It is claimed to be the largest mesa in the world, or one of them. We climbed up and up to the mesa top, to temperatures in the high 60's, but with the bright sun, perfectly comfortable. There are plenty of RV parks up there, and hundreds of lakes for the fishermen. We had a picnic, walked around one of the lakes, and then sat like happy lumps and watched the sun sparkle on the water and the day slide by. The views, both on our trip up and going down, were awesome; it seemed as if we could see hundreds of miles to deep valleys and far-off mountain ranges.

And, though I still have more nervous moments than the average person as roads zigzag ascending and descending next to dropoffs, I am overall grateful to the road engineers. The roads are wide enough, most have shoulders and even bike lanes, they are banked well, and sometimes there are even guard rails.

The terrain changed dramatically as we headed the 20 or so miles west from Grand Junction to Utah. The sign that said "Next services 60 miles" gives a hint of how bare it would be. Shortly after we entered Utah, we headed off on Route 128 to Moab. It had been highly recommended as a scenic alternative, and it was very beautiful. We were soon traveling next to the wide brown Colorado River. Winding, up and down; I sort of wished I had been on a raft instead... We arrived in Moab and checked in at a campground where we stayed several years ago. We had fond memories of being next to the high school and hearing the 7:00 A.M. band practices on the field. Now they give you a warning notice about that early morning noise, as well as urging you to secure your coolers, as they have been known to be stolen. Ah, how life changes.

The low 90's are too hot for John and me. We just can't get enthusiastic about walking outside, in that high heat and 8% humidity, so we reluctantly but gratefully spend our afternoons in our air-conditioned RV. Our first night here, we did walk the few blocks into the funky downtown. It's a fun mix of avid tourists and even more avid outdoors people. For the last two days, we have gone early in the morning to Arches and taken hikes and photos. This really is a beautiful place. But so crowded! Well, it is a weekend, but maybe some of these people could discover Colorado National Monument and Black Canyon, which are also wonderful.

It's almost 4:00 P.M. and we still haven't decided what we will do tomorrow, if we will stay another night here, etc. What an amazing feeling to have that kind of flexibility and privilege to be spontaneous. I also feel obligated to say that some of the numbers I have used are probably not exact; sorry.

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