The Epic Uncompahgre

Leaving Grand Junction, the town closest to Colorado National Monument, we decided to drive the Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic Byway rather than the main road and were completely blown away by the beauty and nearly flooded off the road!

While moderately scenic in the beginning, the Unaweep Canyon became more beautiful the further west we ventured, but as we entered the brilliant red Dolores River Canyon just before the town of Gateway we were gob-smacked.

This place is unbelievably beautiful!

Deep red cliffs tower either side of the road, becoming even more narrow as you travel south from Gateway.

That's when the freak hailstorm hit us, and unable to see in front or behind, we pulled over to the side of the road.

We thought it was great fun, watching the white icy pebbles bouncing off the red earth, although the sound of the hail hitting Bessie's roof was so loud the kids had to hold their hands to their ears.

We were talking about the places inside the RV that the kids could possibly hide if ever we were caught in a really bad storm when suddenly we found ourselves in an actual emergency.

The wall of rock beside us suddenly started gushing a river of red mud on to the roadside. The muddy water was closing in on us at a rate of a foot every couple of seconds.

I yelled to Nath who grabbed the keys and quickly drove us forward out of what would have been at best a serious bogging.

From a safe distance away, we waited out the rest of the storm.

As the skies cleared we ventured back out on to the road and noticed how the bluey green Dolores River now had a ribbon of red through its centre.

Not even one minute south on the road we encountered a mudslide and felt even luckier that we'd managed to avoid a minor disaster.

A plough truck quickly cleared a lane and we continued on our way with the beautiful canyon becoming more and more narrow with every mile.

At one point, there was nothing to be seen but exquisite canyon walls in every direction.

As the road climbed through the sedimentary layers, the nature of the canyon changed, offering a fresh new look to the road every few miles.

We came across a section of the 'hanging flume', a famous engineering innovation for the time, which carried water long distances for mining purposes.

Remnants of the flume remain, continuing to cling to the canyon walls over a century after they were erected.

Leaving the 141 for the 145, the road followed the San Miguel River in places and it was here, at the waters edge that we found a free campsite in a forest site and spent the night not far from Placerville.