But the day started well. The drive out of Gunnison was fantastic, following the river through spectacular Beaver Creek. The landscape suddenly changed as route 50 passed by a Mesa and we entered the Black Canyon national park.
The Black Canyon was utterly breathtaking. We drove the entire length of the South Rim, which offered 11 different overlooks. It wasn't for the faint hearted as the drops down to the river were sheer and mostly unfenced. There were several knee wobblers.
We braved most of the viewpoints and the results were spectacular. These pictures don't really do the canyon justice. The scale and the majesty of the place literally took our breath away.
Most of the overlooks involved a short walk through the flora and fauna until you were suddenly on an outcrop overhanging the river. What we didn't realise until the end was that the juniper trees which lined the edge of the canyon provided food supply for the local wildlife, which included mountain lions, bears, coyotes and so on.
However, I'm pleased to report that the most dangerous critter we encountered was a ferocious chipmunk. I think he was after our bag of skittles in the mustang. We stood our ground and the chipmunk eventually left empty handed.
It was a fantastic way to bid farewell to Colorado. But, before we left, we nipped into Montrose to visit the Ute American Indian Museum. This was an interesting place, built on the land which had been farmed by Ouray, who had been the Chief of the Utes during the period in which they were forced to leave Colorado and were 're-homed' on a reservation. The population of the Utes had been decimated by around 75% by disease and starvation following the commencement of the gold rush. He felt he had let his people down by signing the treaty, but he was only delaying the inevitable.
After that thought provoking stop, we crossed the border into Utah.
The landscape really opened up, as we drove across flat plains surrounded by distant mesas. We were hit by another thunderstorm, following which we made a detour to the Sego Canyon, to look for some petroglyphs, described locally as 'Indian Writings'.
This involved a dodgy drive into the head of the canyon, as the road gradually deteriorated. We skidded to a halt on the edge of a river which was running across the road. We didn't want to test the mustang's off road skills this much, so we abandoned the car and set off on foot. This was mistake number one.
Big Col is not known for his athletic skills.
He attempted to clear the torrential flow of the river in one mighty leap. His right leg made it. His left leg didn't. There was a splash, before Col climbed out of the river clutching his bloodied leg.
But he carried on.
Shortly afterwards, we found the cave paintings. They are thought to have been painted by Utes, who historically had lived in the area. It isn't known how old they are, except those including horses, which would have to be after the 16th century, when the Spanish introduced horses to America. The figures have all sorts of peculiarities, including missing limbs, boggle eyes on stalks...the reason isn't known.
On the way back to the abandoned car, we spotted an eagle soaring above the canyon, which was a fantastic sight. He was very high though so it's not the best picture in the world!
And we came across a llittle gang of these guys. I don't know what they are though!
So after taking pictures of these, we pressed on. It was then that I took on Col's acrobatic performance. Unfortunately, I landed on my camera, which sank into the wet clay and appears to be terminally ill. At the time of writing, it is refusing to turn on.
So, sadly, the remainder of our trip will have to be reliant upon the iphone camera. So please bear with us!
Anyway, we made it (fairly) safely to Green River, which is a (not very green) oasis of motels and truck stops in the middle of the wilderness.
We've had a good feed (Navajo taco's) and our raging thirst has been quenched. We need our beauty sleep now as we need to get to Nevada tomorrow.
Tomorrow, we will hopefully arrive in Ely, which is the start of the 'loneliest highway' part of the trip. Exciting stuff.
But, first, we have an appointment with some goblins in the morning. What could possibly go wrong?
See you in Nevada. :0)
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