Road down into the Black Canyon and return to Monument, CO

Well, I now have Internet in the camper again. We have returned to Colorado Heights Resort in Monument, CO where our cell phones and computer phone card again have service.

Before we left Gunnison we had to take one more trip into the Black Canyon.

Thursday May 31st we returned to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We wanted to hike the Warner Point Trail which is a great trail that has views on both sides. The trail is 1373 yards long each way and one side overlooks the valley while the other side looks into the canyon.

What a scenic view of the valley below and the snow covered mountains in the distance. It was very relaxing just look out over the valley.

There were colorful wild flowers along the trail.

At the end of the trail Bev sat on the edge of a cliff enjoying the view into the canyon.

It was a nice hike even though the trail had a lot of ups and downs but the weather was perfect and a nice breeze kept us cool.

We hit a couple more shorter trails along the way but one of the main things I wanted to do was drive  the road down into the canyon to the Gunnison River.

The surrounding valley was very dry so in the early 1900s they decided to dig a tunnel from the Gunnison River in the canyon to the valley below to supply the water needed to cultivate the area.

Once plans were made to construct the Gunnison Tunnel, a town was needed to support the workers. First came tents and log cabins, but as digging began in January, 1905, the town of East Portal was born. Hydrographer Abraham Lincoln Fellows led the design team on the tunnel, and he laid out the road leading down from the rim.

Unlike our trip up to the Cimarron Pass, which was a wild and exciting dirt path, this road down into the canyon was a nice blacktop road. Now the road was steep though. It had greater than 16 degree grades along with constant switchbacks all the way down to the bottom.

Once we reached the Gunnison River we saw where the tunnel started and were able to drive along the river.

The little building straight ahead is where the water enters the tunnel.

Dedicated in 1909, the tunnel is the starting point of a system of ditches that was finished in 1923. It still supplies water to fields and homes in the Uncompahgre Valley. The tunnel is full of water during the growing season, but it is empty in the winter when scheduled inspection trips are made.

We drove along the river to the Crystal Dam where the road stops. The Crystal Dam along with other dams on the river supplies electric power to the area while keeping the river in check.

It was another great trip to a very scenic National Park, we really love this area but we must now leave to continue our trek north.

Saturday June 2nd we hit the road again crossing Continental Divide at the Monarch Pass. Our Winnebago worked hard pulling the Honda CRV up the mountain but we crossed the pass without any problems.

At the top there is a gift shop and restaurant so we stopped to check it out. We were able to pick up a Monarch Pass hiking medallion along with coffee and muffins. (Bev got hot chocolate)

It was a very scenic and easy trip back to Monument but as always it was great to get "home" to our site.

We will be here for two weeks when we will hit the road for Wyoming.

Bev and Tom Livin and Lovin the RV lifestyle.