Canyons, Canyons, and More Canyons 2015

In advance of my niece's baptism in southwestern Colorado, I visited a few of the nearby national parks, including Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado National Monument, Canyonlands, and Arches.

After getting shut out of a permit for the Firey Furnace at Arches, Plan B led me on an early morning hike to Delicate Arch, probably the most photographed rock formation in North America.  

Delicate Arch is iconic and delivered a lovely view, at least when people weren't standing under the arch for a photo-op.

The more expansive views at Canyonlands, however, are unobstructable.  Sunset near the Green River Overlook was vast and hushed.  About ten years ago, I paddled through Canyonlands on the Green River for seven days.  It was nice to see a bird's-eye view of the textured canyons draining the winding miles of water too thin to plow, too thick to drink.

Besides standing in awe of the big overlooks, I hiked down over 1,300 feet and 8.5 miles around a formation called the Upheaval Dome.  At several points, the trail required some creative moves with both hands and both feet.

A short, but steep hike into the Ute Canyon at Colorado National Monument got me ready for the Upheaval Dome hike.  The lush stream bed provided a nice contrast to the ruddy sandstone of the plateaus.

The most terrifying canyon of all was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  I was afraid of falling off the edge and constantly nagged my fellow hikers to be careful.   I was so paranoid that I kept imagining the rental car rolling over the edge.  It was my second visit to the Black Canyon, but my first time to the more remote and primitive north rim.

I've always been fascinated by grouse, and since I was going to be in the West in April, I looked for an opportunity to see the mating dance of sage-grouse on the lek.  We joined a group led by Professor Patrick Magee a biologist at Western Colorado State University to observe the rare Gunnison Sage-Grouse.  He made a presentation the night before on the life history and conservation of the Gunnison Sage-Grouse, then took our group to a lek before sunrise.  As the sun crept over the ridge in the distance, we could see the sillouette of a male grouse shaking his head and tossing his long filo-plumes over his head to attract the attention of a mate.  Since all the grouse were about a kilometer away, I am sharing a 2011 web photo by Noppadol Paothong, I believe.

If the grouse were too far away for me to photograph, my luck changed when I spotted a bobcat in a roadside tree on my way to the Black Canyon.  At first my eye saw a squirrel's nest, but when it moved, I thought it was a porcupine.  As I approached the tree, I was thrilled to see my first bobcat in the wild.