Montrose, CO

Wednesday, September 15

Wednesday afternoon, we left Paonia, CO and drove south toward Montrose, CO. That’s where Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is located — the first of three national parks we’re planning to visit on this trip.

After stopping for a much-needed car wash and to fill up on water in Montrose, we pulled into Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP around 4:30pm and quickly bee-lined it to the visitor center before they closed to collect Junior Ranger packets for the kids.

Next, we cruised over to the national park campground to secure a campsite for the night & were pleased to find one with electricity hook-ups and some shade. The four of us sat at the picnic table and worked on the kids’ Junior Ranger packets for a bit while we waited for the temperature to cool down a bit outside. It’s been so warm in Colorado this September — 80’s and sunny every single day.

Around 6:30pm, Andi and I unloaded our e-bikes from the back of the RV. We decided to bike the 7-mile south rim drive vs. driving the RV along it (although the RV could have driven the road without issue). From the campground, there were 12 look-out points in all that we could have stopped at, though we were chasing daylight and only picked a few during our ride.

Tory brought her Junior Ranger packet along & completed one of the activities by drawing the canyon and Gunnison River. Through weathering and erosion, the Gunnison River carved its way through various rocky layers of the Earth creating the deep canyon we see today. Geologists say that if the river would have run even a mile away from this spot in either direction the canyon would have never formed.

I’m not sure I’d recommend just anyone bike the south rim scenic drive. There were definitely some hills to climb during our ride! Our e-bikes made it without much of a problem though. It was the perfect night for a bike ride and hardly any cars along the scenic drive. We saw several foxes and rabbits along the way.

Just before sunset, we stopped at Sunset Viewpoint (the irony!) along the scenic drive to watch the sun go down on the day. There were a handful of people already there, and we all shared a special moment watching the gorgeous orangey-red sunset in the sky. I loved the way everyone respected the moment — no one talked — just watching the sun go down over the horizon.

We made it back to the campground just before dark. Andi grilled a pork tenderloin for dinner, then we cleaned up, put our jammies on and watched an episode of Heartland on Netflix together before bed.

Thursday, September 16

The next morning, we got up and drove the RV to the visitor center as we signed up for a park ranger about geology in the park. Tory wants to be a geologist when she grows up, so this was a perfect opportunity to learn about the rocks in the park and how the Gunnison River carved through them to create the canyon we see today. Andi had a work call at the same time, so he dropped Tory, Aden and I off at the visitor center adn then drove the RV to the end of the south rim drive where there’s a speck of cell service. National parks have notoriously terrible cell coverage.

I didn’t realize this park ranger talk was actually a guided hike when I signed up for it yesterday. Tory and Aden weren’t very pleased about the sudden physical activity when they found out, but we were already committed. The park ranger leading the hike was very pregnant, so I figured if she could do it, so could the kids.

I was right. The .8 mile hike was more like a walk and Park Ranger Gina did an excellent job presenting information about rocks in the park. I was proud of Tory and Aden, too. They were engaged in the presentation throughout the hour and didn’t complain once. It was actually really fun.

After the park ranger talk, the three of us walked back to the visitor’s center where we found Andi waiting in the RV for us. There might have been a few more hikes to do in the park, or a handful of lookouts to see, but Andi and I felt like we got what we came to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to experience.

From Black Canyon, we drove into the town of Montrose for lunch and groceries, and to do school where there was a good internet signal. Andi found a produce stand called Honey Acre Farms which conveniently had a BBQ food truck right next to it, so we decided to get some veggies and eat lunch there. We loaded up on two pounds of pulled pork and brisket to freeze for later meals and got some local Colorado corn on the cob.

Andi made us a reservation for the night at Ridgway State Park, just south of Montrose. We arrived around 3:00pm and discovered a lot to do there. After I did my workout outside the RV, Andi and I went for a two-mile walk along one of the trails and then the four of us biked down to the playground so the kids could run off some energy.

We made burgers for dinner and the kids talked to Grandma Janie on the phone for a while, then we all watched another episode of Heartland on Netflix before bedtime.

Tomorrow, we’re heading to Ouray, Colorado for the weekend.