On our way to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, there were a couple of other things we wanted to see and do while in that part of Colorado. We wanted to see Pike’s Peak, and we wanted to see the Coors Brewery in Golden, since Coors had such a “mystique” in the early 70s. We headed to Mueller State Park, which is close to Pike’s Peak and set up camp there. This is a really nice state park with lovely views right out our “kitchen” window onto the Rocky Mountains. The aspens were turning their golden color and we could watch them “quaking” while having breakfast. So relaxing.
But Golden was first. We were a little disappointed in the Coors tour and tasting, after having been at Anheuser. Of course they had no Clydesdales, but the tour was much more formalized, with arm bands, driver license check-in, etc., and there were very few styles of beer to try. None that we weren’t already familiar with. Also, the tour was self-guided, with an audio head piece—not nearly as nice as our Anheuser guide. And, as part of the tour, they take the “family picture” as a momento, then want you to pay $20 for it. Oh well. We had a nice lunch at the Old Capital Grill (notice, not a brew pub), which is located, as the name implies, in the old building used as the capitol while Golden was the state capital. The building served in several other functions in the years following.
Coors Brew Kettles
The next morning, we headed to Manitou Springs, CO to catch the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak. We had made reservations the day before, so we just had to pick up our tickets and wait for boarding. This is a really interesting railway, using, as you might expect, a center rail that looks like the rack of a rack-and-pinion steering system. Matching gears under the engine engage the center rail and the cog acts as the locomotion and braking function. The incline is steep, as much as 25%, so the old steam engine that is no longer used was actually tilted so that it would be more nearly level on the incline and the boiler would be happy. This is not a problem for the modern, diesel engine used today. On the way up, the conductor provided commentary, “jokes”, and descriptions of some of the scenery. We passed marmots, big horn sheep, as well as the tree line, on the way up the mountain. The whole trip was 3 ½ hours, with less than an hour at the top. But this was enough time to get some great views, fudge-covered doughnuts and hot chocolate. It was quite breezy and chilly.
Pike's Peak Cog Railway Train at the Top of the Peak
One View from the Top of Pike's Peak (Yes, that's snow!)
Back down at Colorado Springs (sort of merges with Manitou Springs), we had lunch at the Phantom Canyon Brewery. JEK had sampled their goods on a business trip a few years ago, and thought they were pretty good. We were not disappointed: the shrimp and lobster spaghetti was wonderful, and the beers were great. While in Colorado Springs, we decided to head to a city park that BYK had read about: Garden of the Gods. The sign there called it a National Natural Landmark, which is a park system category that we had not heard of. We drove the park road, hiked a few of the short, easy hikes, and watched some novice rock climbers learning the sport. One was in a big hurry for her family to finish taking pictures so that she could come down. There are lots of very interesting rock formations in this beautiful little park.
Balanced Rock, Garden of the Gods
The next day, we headed for BCGNP, but the entire way the winds, we later learned, were howling at 25-30 mph and gusting at over 50 mph--a real challenge pulling a trailer up and down the steep hills and around the curves. The winds were predicted to last through most of the night, and, because of a previous experience of a windy, sleepless night, we decided to head for the nearest Hampton Inn in Montrose, just outside of the park. We could give the winds a day or two to calm down , if necessary, before camping again.
Our first day at Gunnison, we, of course, went the to the visitor center and checked with the ranger for the best things to do in the park. We also watched their very good orientation film. Then we headed to the East Portal of the park, which is down a long 16% grade to the bottom of the canyon. This is the only place in the park to get to the canyon bottom without backpacking down with a back-country, overnight pass. Also at the East Portal, is the diversion dam and the opening to the Gunnison Tunnel which still carries water from the Gunnison River down to the Uncompaghre Valley and Montrose. The dam and the tunnel were built in 1905, are still functional, and are a National Civil Engineering Landmark. Just up-river a mile or two is the Crystal Dam, which is outside of the park and was closed off, but partially visible. This dam joins several others to form part of the Colorado River Water Conservation District. Then we went back UP to the south rim and did the rim drive, stopping at all of the overlooks, many of which have short hikes to the edge, including Warner Point Trail which was about ¾ of a mile. This is an amazing “little” canyon with a lot of inspiring scenery. That night, we headed back down to Montrose and the motel for one more night, and we had dinner at Smugglers Brewpub.
Gunnison Rver at East Portal
View of Uncompaghre Valley from Warner's Point
The next morning, we pulled the trailer up to the park and set up camp in the south rim campground. Then, we drove around the park about 80 miles to the north rim. The north rim is much less developed than the south, and they have only unpaved roads. There were no services and no water available at this time of year. Still, we drove the whole rim road and made all of the overlooks, seeing some new sights and some of the same parts of the canyon from a different perspective; very interesting. Upon leaving the north rim section, we headed around the park, continuing in a clockwise fashion to get back to our camp, about 90 miles in that direction, completing a circle around the park. This whole circuit is shown on the maps as a scenic by-way and has very beautiful scenery. The aspens were turning their golden to fire orange colors here, also, and there were literally hillsides of them. So pretty.
A Tenacious Juniper along the North Rim
Gunnison River from the North Rim
Before leaving the next morning we hiked the Oak Flat Trail to the Upland Trail and then to the Rim Rock Nature Trail out to Gunnison Point. This three and a half mile trip allowed us to see all of the different forms of landscape in the park, more canyon vistas, wildlife, including mule deer, gambel oak, aspen, and Douglas fir. Quite beautiful and a good way to start the day.
Gambel Oak at Black Canyon along Rim Rock Trail
Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a relatively small national park, but they pack a lot of scenery in a small space, and we packed in a lot of sightseeing in a short time. It is now on to new adventures, heading toward Arches National Park and leaving Colorado (and the beer) for Utah.
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