We hoped to get an early start and head to Sand Dunes National Park (in the southeast corner of Colorado) and then on to Mesa Verde National Park (in the southwest corner of Colorado). After doing laundry and showering, I walked out to the Sprinter to find Deven building something! She was using some of Kipp’s wood scraps to build new shelves for all of our bins. I let her do what she wanted and went inside to work on the blog. Nearly 2 HOURS LATER our bins had a new, more convenient home and we were a little behind schedule. We decided to skip Sand Dunes and just head to Mesa Verde, a place we have both been very excited to see. We made our way through a bunch of small towns, a little wine country area, and after looking closely at the map realized we were near another national park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We decided to take the 10-mile detour and stop. This canyon became a national park in 1999 and its cliffs contain some of the oldest rocks in North America, dating to 1.7 billion years old. The cliff walls are 40 feet apart and rise 1750 feet. The Gunnison River falls 480 feet in a 2-mile section and the rapid water flow carves the canyon, making the walls very steep. The canyon is so deep and narrow that very little sunlight hits it, which is how it got its name. We drove around, took some pictures, had a little vertigo from looking over the cliffs, and got back on track. From here, we drove through Montrose and the small mining town of Ouvray. Right after Ouvray we drove through Red Mountain Pass, which was full of winding roads and stunning views of the red mountains. After the pass, we were in Durango – the biggest city we’ve seen in awhile. We stopped for Starbucks and firewood and headed out for the last 30 miles until Mesa Verde. We easily found a great campsite, made dinner, and went to the fireside ranger program about women’s involvement in establishing this park. We went to bed early because are both so excited for tomorrow!
