The Black Canyon of the Gunnison… I’d heard that name since I was a little kid. My parents went there once, and my dad took some slides. Which he showed sometimes.
But little kids feel words more than they understand their meanings. And that word “gun” was scary. And speaking of a “black canyon…” even scarier. Downright spooky.
It’s in Colorado. I was in Colorado. I had to see it. Indeed, the Black Canyon was the main reason for this trip.
I should probably tell the tale of Capt. John Gunnison at some point. He is certainly important to Colorado. He has a town named after him, a river, a flower, a county, a National Forest, a couple of small buttes… he was important. I’ll try to remember to include his story in a later post.
So it was that my next destination was the Tall Texan RV Park in the town of Gunnison, Colorado, near the source of the Gunnison River. An 85 mile trip over the Continental Divide. From Buena Vista, I would take my motorhome south on US 285, hang a right onto US 50 at the little burg of Poncha Springs, and go over Monarch Pass to Gunnison. I had never been on any of it.
The Tall Texan is a fine RV park, owned and staffed by some fine people. I highly recommend it if you’re an RVer traveling through the area. There is only one caveat: DON’T TRY TO FIND IT AFTER DARK, especially if you’re driving an RV. The driveway is very hard to see, and invisible after dark. Or at least it was back then.
Here’s a phone shot of camp. It’s the mature trees that made this place special to me:
After setting up, I took the Jeep up the Gunnison River to explore a little bit. I wanted to see the mountain known as Crested Butte. I got there just as the sun was setting:
This was the only shot I took that day.
A year later, I would come back to this place and explore those mountains in the distance: the Ruby Range, home of the deadliest 4WD road in Colorado. But that’s another story for later. For now, this is the only photo I have for today’s post.
to be continued…