Day 13

Hello from Colorado Springs! We left Durango and headed north along US highway 550 toward Montrose. Needless to say, we happened to find another treacherous road.

The picture at left doesn't do it justice but this was another road of hairpin curves and steep slopes. Although this picture shows guard rails, the majority of the worst curves did not have them.

We headed on east to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

This was our 11th and final national park. This park was truly amazing. The Gunnison river carved this deep gorge out of this black stone. The gorge is so deep and the walls so steep that there is only light on the canyon floor at midday. It was very bright and hazy due to the wildfires out here as you can see in the picture.

This is a photo shot straight down toward the canyon floor. You can get some idea of how deep it is. It is strange to look down and see red-tailed hawks and buzzards from above as they soar through the canyon below.

Amy and I both agreed that this park is one the most impressive that we have visited.

We left the park and head east to Colorado Springs to stop for the night. Along the way we stopped and took this photo of Blue Mesa Lake.

We are spending the night in Colorado Springs and we are planning to see Pikes Peak in the morning before we head east again.

-Matthew