After Lunch

Shelly and family wanted to hike to the visitors center but since we had done our 466 stairs and 1 1/2 mile walk/hike to the boat we decided to drive to all of the overlooks. It is such a dramatic canyon. Where the Grand Canyon is wide this one is more like a narrow crack in the earth. It is called The Black Canyon of the Gunnison and it was not made a National Park until 1999.

The information on the map reads, "The canyon has been a mighty barrier to humans from time immemorial. Only its rims, never the gorge, show evidence of human occupation--not even by Ute Indians living in the area since written history began. No early Spanish explores to the SW reported seeing the canyon. The expedition led by Capt. John W. Gunnison, whose name was given to the river, bypassed the gorge in its search for a river crossing. The first written record came from the Hayden Expedition of 1873-74.

It was named the black canyon because it is so deep, so sheer, and so narrow that very little sunlight can penetrate it. Early travelers found it shadow-shrouded and foreboding. The national park now contains 14 miles of the canyon's total 48-mile length.