Day 13 Black Canyon of the Gunnison

We wanted to visit the Colorado National Monument during our travels today.  Turned into a disaster.  At the entry gate we were told about 11'5" tall tunnels.  We are 11'2".  Decided to turn around.  Not enough room at entry gate to turn rig:


I tried anyway, ended up putting small crease in the gray car with my trailer when backing up.  Car belongs to gate keeper.  Poor place for him to park.


Oh well.  Delay of about 30 minutes.  Park police were very nice.  Gate guy, not so much.  Insurance will cover it, minor damage to trailer.  Got rig turned around and went on to Montrose KOA.

Had several hours free today so we started our tour of Black Canyon.  The Gunnison part refers to the Gunnison River at the bottom of the canyon. National Park #8!


Went to Visitors Center, neat overlook behind it.  Got a ranger to take our picture.


Pictures of course don't do justice to how immense the canyon is:


Most people know I don't like heights, so I appreciated the handrails, which I had a tight grip on:


Such awesome views



We made it half way up the 7 mile scenic drive and visited 3 viewpoints.  Tomorrow we will finish the drive and see some of the remaining 7 viewpoints.

Had a nice meal at a local brewery.  Amazingly they had no IPA on tap!  Then back to trailer for NBA playoff game.  Go Pacers!

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