Day 15- National Park Tour: Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Tuesday July 19, 2016

It was still raining in the morning, so Pumpkin and I played Uno until Chuck Roast woke up. It had stopped raining right before Chuck Roast woke up so we took down camp quickly before it rained again and headed to the Visitor Center. 




The kids took their pledges and then joined a group of people in the auditorium for the informational video. There weren't enough seats so the kids and I moved to the floor, to much applause and kind words from the tour bus people, mostly older women. Afterwards, one woman came up and told me how impressed she was by how well behaved the kids were, she should know, she was an ECSE teacher. It was a lovely compliment. We saw a mama bighorn sheep with her babies as we were taking the loop through the park. It was beautiful!


Once back on the highway, we took my new pillow back to REI, it was SO uncomfortable and definitely felt like a balloon in a case, which it basically was. Then we headed to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This was much more impressive than I imagined and I was glad to have gotten there in time to do a little hiking and explore the Visitor Center. 




After that we drove towards Great Sand Dunes and looked for a campsite along the way since the whole area around Grand Junction and Montrose was wet and rainy, or was soon going to be. We crossed the Continental Divide, which I forgot would happen and then shortly after, my breaks started making a horrid screeching sound and locked up before we made it to Pancho Springs. I have a text message waiting to be sent to my parents to look me up a place to get my breaks replaced since I get almost zero service in the mountains. And it was freezing!



But we're in the San Isabel National Forest in a tent right next to a babbling brook and across the road from a bathroom, definitely very dirty, but a bathroom just the same! This is definitely not the same dispersed camping we've experienced most of our trip. All the signs indicate 4-wheeling trails, so I guess the land use makes the camping a bit different. The cows roaming everywhere might also play a role in the setting. And the smell. Not horrible but there's a slight cow patty undertone...


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