Black-Canyon-of-the-Gunnison-Nationalpark
The Black Canyon -of -the- Gunnison National Park is located in western Colorado. It protects the central part of the Canyon of the Gunnison River, a tributary of the Colorado River, which is exceptionally steep due to the hard rock. Upriver, the Curecanti National Recreation Area connects, a National Recreation Area ( recreation area of National Importance ), where the river is dammed to form a reservoir with high recreational use.
The two edges of the canyon are not connected to each other in the conservation area, most visitors use only the southern edge. There are two park entrances. The south entrance is 23 km east of Montrose. It can be reached via U.S. Highway 50 and Colorado Highway 347 to the north entrance 17 km south of Crawford to get over the Colorado Highway 92 and the North Rim Road. The latter is unpaved and closed in winter. For Gunnison River itself is accessed via the East Portal Road, which branches within the National Park of the 347. The East Portal Road is extremely steep with slopes up to 16 percent and many hairpin curves. It is closed in winter. Vehicles over 6.70 meters in length are not allowed here. The park was made in 1933 as a national monument under protection and upgraded to a National Park in 1999. It is managed by the National Park Service.
Geography and Geology
The Black Canyon is a deep gorge through which the Gunnison River flows. It is so narrow that very little sunlight falls to the ground, which would appear dark to black around the walls of the canyon gave his name. On Chasm Overlook Overlook it reaches a depth of 555 m at only 345 m from the edges of the canyon. In the Canyon of the Gunnison River has an average gradient of 18 feet per mile. The 3.2 km long section between " Pulpit Rock " and " Chasm View" is the slope, however 50 meters per kilometer. From the rim of the canyon the roar is heard clearly, with the score the gray-green waters of the Gunnison River through the canyon. The river digs per one hundred years about three inches further.
The now visible Canyon emerged in the last two million years ago when the Gunnison River had dug through a layer of sandstone from the Jurassic and the surface of a block of about 2 billion year old rocks from the Precambrian met, the case of Lara mixing orogeny some 70 million years ago had been raised. It consists of gneiss with him by pulling pegmatite, which shows a pronounced planar direction structure ( foliation ). The resistance of the under tremendous pressure over geologically long periods of rock explains the almost exclusively acting perpendicular erosion.
Biology
Called The Great Horned Owl Bobo virginianus, also American eagle owls ( Great Horned Owl ), hunts at night rabbits and other rodents on the canyon rim. The Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides ( Mountain Bluebird ) nests in the trees on the canyon rim. It is diurnal and lives of insects. The Steller Cyanocitta stelleri ( Steller's Jay ) lives on the canyon rim or in the upper regions of the side canyons. Their main diet consists of seeds, nuts and insects, but he does not disdain the remains of a picnic. The peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus ( Peregrine Falcon) nests on rock ledges of the canyon wall and chases its prey - smaller birds - in flight. The White-breasted sailor Aeronautes saxatalis ( White-throated Swift) nests high up in the canyon walls. His boy he feeds mostly early in the morning or in the evening when its prey - flying insects - is most active. The Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus ( Canyon Wren ) as the peregrine falcon nests on rocky outcrops. He lives of spiders and other insects, which he ferrets out in the crevices. The American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus (American Dipper or Water Ouzel ) is both a water and Songbird. It builds its nest on river height preferably on moss behind waterfalls and underwater hunting for insects, larvae, fish eggs and small fish by up to submerged 60 times per minute. Broad-tailed Hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus (Broad -tailed Hummingbird ), Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia ( Yellow Warbler ), Violet Swallow Tachycineta thalassina ( Violet-green Swallow ) and beach runners ( Sandpipers ) complete the variety of birds.
Great Horned Owl, Steller and Dipper live all year round in the canyon while Mountain Bluebird, peregrine falcon, white-breasted sailor and canyon wren migratory birds.
Attractions
The main attraction of the park is the road along the southern margin of the canyon. Furthermore, there is a campground and many paved and unpaved trails. There is a dirt trail from the canyon rim down to the river, the descent takes about 4, the rise of about 6 hours.
History
The Black Canyon has been around forever been an obstacle for people. A settlement of the gorge was never possible. Only on the canyon rim, archaeologists found traces of early human life.
Even the Ute, the largest Native American tribe who lived here for centuries, are never penetrated into the deeper regions of the canyon.
The first Europeans who explored the west of Colorado, were Spaniards. The expedition of Juan Rivera in 1765 and the famous expedition of Franciscan friars Dominguez and Escalante in 1776 led to the region of the Black Canyon, but they all looked at him as impassable.
How they fared many other explorers. Captain John Gunnison crossed on his expedition in September 1853 North Fork of the river that was later named after him, but decided to avoid the Black Canyon and moved further west to the Uncompahgre River. The first written report came from the Hayden expedition that followed 1873/74 of its itinerary. When she looked down at Morrow Point in the canyon, they told him roundly for impassable.
In 1882, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was looking for a way for their railway line to the west. Your representative General Palmer instructed the surveyor Byron Bryant, the possibility of a route through the Black Canyon to Delta to explore.
On December 12, 1882 Bryant began with a small group of surveyors with the difficult work. Every morning they climbed down into the canyon, measured the icy gorge in the short hours of daylight in the evening and went back upstairs. After less than half a month, half of the men gave up, but Bryant and the hard core of his troops went on. After 68 days they reached the end of the canyon. Bryant Palmer convinced that a rail line would not be economically represented by the canyon. Then Palmer decided to leave the train line at Cimarron Black Canyon.
Towards the end of the 19th century studied the farmers of the adjacent Uncompahgre Valley for a way to divert water from the Gunnison River to irrigate their fields. To this end, they wanted to dig a tunnel from Black Canyon of the Vernal Mesa. In 1900 started from John Pelton from Montrose, William Torrence of the Montrose Electric Light and Power Company and a small group of volunteers from Cimarron in boats made of wood and canvas on an expedition. The planned five -day trip was a month-long odyssey. At an impassable bottleneck, " The Narrows " called where the canyon is 12 m wide and 518 m deep, they gave up and left the Black Canyon of the nearest side canyon. They called the place of its failure " Falls of Sorrow".
A year later, took the hydraulic engineer Fellows, who worked for the government, with Torrence a second attempt. They started out on August 12 of Cimarron with a rubber mattress as a raft, a Kodak roll film camera and lighter luggage than the previous expedition. Wilbur Dillon provided them from the canyon rim with everything you need. The first aid station was at the East Portal at the present eastern boundary of the National Park. They came forward better, because the river now in midsummer led less water. They rowed, swam or worked around the rapids on foot on their way through the canyon. After 8 days, they met again Dillon, who was the Red Rock Canyon descended, to provide them with new provisions. Here they could end their journey, but they decided not to make a day on. When she emerged from the canyon the next day, they had covered 33 miles in 9 days and the river crossing 76 times. They brought with them the knowledge that the construction of a tunnel was possible. Fellow explored the canyon in the next 2 years with a group of surveyors accurately and 1905 started the construction of the Gunnison Tunnel Diverson, which was completed in 1909 and today supplies water to the Uncompahgre Valley.
1916 Ellsworth Kolb took the test, the Black Canyon to travel downstream. He had to interrupt you because he suffered himself and other members of his crew injuries, they lost more than once their boats and most of their equipment in the rapids or the weather made it impossible to continue the journey, expedition three. But he did not give up, and finally he succeeded, albeit with interruptions, the entire Black Canyon of Cimarron to Delta to navigate.
Through the publications of Fellows and piston on their expeditions began the residents of Montrose, to be interested in the late 20s for the Black Canyon. They realized what they had on their doorstep for a gem and made for the recognition of the Black Canyon as a National Monument strong. The Lions Club of Montrose constructed a road to the South Rim of the canyon, which was inaugurated on Labor Day 1930. On March 2, 1933 President Herbert Hoover declared the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. The Black Canyon was always known over the years and on 21 October 1999, President Bill Clinton declared it a national park.