We saw another Canyon! Hurray! Black Canyon of the Gunnison is another remarkable site. After seeing all the red sandstone, seeing trees and granite was different. The Canyon gets its name because it only receives 33 minutes of sunlight a day. Duane Vandenbusche, in his book Images of America – The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, states that “Several canyons of the American West are longer and some a deeper, but none combine the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and dread of the Black Canyon.” Naturally, I want to hike it now. We only stayed on the south side of the Canyon but as we were driving to the Sand Dunes we had to pass the exit for the north side. There is no easy way to get to either side without having to go around the entire canyon.
Eventually made it to the town of Gunnison. We stopped for a late lunch or early dinner at 5B’s BBQ which had a lovely brisket and beans. We didn’t think that we that hungry but I don’t think we stopped to talk after we got our food. Coffee was going to be necessary to stave off the food coma and we backtracked to Gunnison Coffee for two Americanos. Just in time too because the food coma was starting to hit hard. And then we hit Colorado State Highway 114.
Maybe it was because I just had a decent amount of caffeine flowing through my body but I’d like to think it was the road that kept me awake. I’m sure that there are very few roads in America that could be that good. It carves its way through a canyon and snakes its ways along the stream running through the valley. After what seems like an endless road of S curves it opens up to a wide-open plateau surrounded by mountains with soft drops and a straightway that goes to the horizon. It's fantastic. This is also cementing my view that the only way to see America is off the Interstates. Interstates are fantastic for getting you places but I’ve met and talked to so many great people and seen so many fantastic views that I just don’t want to travel any other way. CO 114 ends in the town of Saguache. Which had a rare treat for Jeep lovers: the Gillette Jeep Collection. It a private collection of jeep including Willy’s, Forward Control (FC) Jeeps and plenty of the original Jeep Wagoneer. What a great place for CO114 to end.
We did make it to The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve last night to spend the night. Thinking that we’d were smart we drove directly to the campground to get a spot. Unfortunately, it a reserve only site. We never said we were smart here. There was a campground just outside of the park though that offered a much better view of the Sand Dunes against the Sunset and Sunrise that the Park Campers didn’t get to see. Overall, I think we came out on top. I did pull over several times to get pictures in the fading light which I think turned out pretty good. I was going to try to get up early in the morning and make sunrise but…On the map of the park, the NPS has marked two types of wind that help make up the park. Storm Winds and Prevailing Winds. Let me tell you that those winds work pretty darn good at forming the Dunes they also do a fantastic job of whipping past a tent, mounted on top of a vehicle, and moving said 4000lbs behemoth of a vehicle like a teeter-totter. At least I know they aren’t kidding about the wind. I felt bad for Ben in his hammock but apparently being surrounded by trees and being blown around by the wind acted like a rocking cradle, after he put earplugs in to block out the wind noise.
We did get up eventually and packed up the campsite and made for the Dunes. We had a hearty breakfast of instant coffee and left-over hotdog buns. Gordon Ramsey has nothing on us. And thus, began the trek up the Great Sand Dune and to High Point. I tell you people need to work on naming places. Ben as normal, takes stride like a Gazelle leaping across the African plain, meanwhile, I’m working on just not falling over and looking like a freshly rolled out sugar cookie. Walking up Sand Dunes, not fun, but the view at the top was well worth it. You could see the whole Sand Dune from the top with all its various shades of tan and shadows. You could see where the Birds beat us up to the top and where they had a small scuffle. Following a path that someone did earlier, I was jealous of his companion, a small dog. You could see the deep footsteps of the person who beat us up the dunes but alongside you could see the dainty pawprints of the dog. Didn’t even break the crust of the sand. Just skidding across and that dog was having the time of its life up there. Coming back down the Dunes was more fun. We surprisingly ran down a lot of it but both of us wished that we had boards to ride the dunes down.
Ben and I are currently on our way up to Colorado Springs. Probably doing some laundry and getting some food and coffee. Our goal is to push into Kansas as much as we can today. We are going to take the state highways to hit Dodge City and Wichita and then Kansas City for a Kansas City Steak. I feel that we deserve that.
Do it for the story right?