Black Canyon of the Gunnison

If there was an award for the most deep, narrow, steep canyon, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison would win it.

Standing at the southern edge of this National Park you can clearly see all of the features of the northern side directly in front of you.

It's incredibly disconcerting that separating you from that northern side is a near-vertical drop the height of two Empire State Buildings.

The sun rarely shines into the depths of the canyon, giving it its dark, foreboding blackness.

The cragginess of the fins and needles of rock jutting out here, there and everywhere lend it an underworld vibe.

With names like "Dragon Point" and "Devils Lookout" the area's earliest explorers clearly thought the same.

Eons ago, before the rock was exposed to the elements and the Gunnison River eroded it down into a deep chasm, magma squeezed its way into cracks and today those igneous intrusions make the cliff faces look like someone has gone nuts wielding a massive paintbrush.

The "Painted Wall" visible from Chasm Viewpoint is one of the features of the South Rim Road accessible from highway 347.

We spent several hours on the Rim Road, walking out to viewpoints and viewing the canyon from different angles, before settling in at a campsite at the South Rim Campground.

Deer and their fauns were wandering freely through the campground and nibbling at foliage close to Bessie, giving us a lovely up-close natural encounter.

I took a stroll out along the Rim Rock Trail back to the Visitors Centre we'd visited earlier, but with a storm rolling in, decided to go no further.

Sure enough, we were hit by a massive storm and hailed on (again!) but the hailstones have so far luckily been the size of small pebbles and haven't done any damage to our tough Bessie.

The next morning, back at the Visitors Centre, Nath filled out a hiker's registration form and Indy got his junior ranger badge.

It was here we waited while Nath took on the near-vertical Gunnison Route down to the river and back again.

Nath described the unmaintained trail (on which the parks service only allows 15 people a day) as a massive scramble.

It drops 549 metres over one mile. He said he was on his hands and knees for most of the way back up.

Plus there's the danger that people above you can dislodge rocks that tumble down and knock you out or worse.

Sounds fun right? ; )

All in all, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a dizzying natural spectacle.

Driving East, leaving the National Park behind, we encountered quite scenic mesas, farmland and reservoirs.