Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Ouray

Leaving Maroon Bells, we were uncertain as to our next destination, but the general plan was to head towards Southwest Colorado. But, on our map, we noticed another national park ... Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Sounded good, and camping was available, so we headed there to spend the night. What a surprise ... a 2000' deep canyon several miles long. Famous in the climbing world for it's very difficult routes. We did the tourist route ... drive along the south rim and peer into the abyss at almost every scenic overlook. And drive down the windy road to the bottom. Pretty impressive. Beautiful sunset.

We also converged on a plan for the next stage of our trip ... head towards a little town in the middle of the mountains ... Ouray, CO. Quaint. Did a 5 mile "around Ouray" hike. We weren't expecting much, but were surprised with some great views of the surrounding impressive peaks, a gorge and a tunnel. Still, it didn't prepare us for what we'd encounter the following day ...