Thursday, May 29, 2014

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

Okay, two things, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is really hard to photograph and it's not really black, unless you take a picture into the sun like this.

When properly lit, it's brown, but I guess Brown Canyon of the Gunnison just doesn't sound as good.

The river is a long way down.  Although the flow is now controlled by dams, the Gunnison continues to carve the canyon.  Within the park, the river drops an average of 95 feet per mile and 480 feet in one 2-mile stretch.  Even with the decreased water flow, this creates the power to cut away the cliff walls.

In one section, you can see the north side of the canyon is subject to erosion.

We saw a lot of pretty arrowleaf balsamroot.

At 2300 feet, the Painted Wall is the highest cliff in Colorado.  The patterns were created when molten rock was squeezed into fractures in the existing rock.  The sun had gone completely by this time, hence the poor picture.  You'll just have to see it for yourself.

I wonder what the rangers are looking for.  I sure hope nobody fell over the edge.

I don't know the name of this precious little flower.  Anybody?


6 comments:

  1. I think those rangers were watching the river erode the rock. Remember, they are government employees... ;c)

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  2. I know you were getting those butt shots for Diana! Gunnison is a beautiful place...I get dizzy when I look off the edge~it became a NP one yr after I visited it...so I guess they added stuff like Rangers!

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  3. Is it a Meadow Death Camas Flower?

    I just Googled flowers of Colorado.

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  5. Colorado is a beautiful state, lots to see and plenty of time to see it. I loved the photos even with the sun going down.

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  6. I think this is my first time seeing a picture of Painted Rock ... love the lines and texture.

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