It is gray today with rain forecast all around us but we decide to head out to the south rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison anyway.  Along the way we make a stop at Cimarron and fishermen’s access to the freer flowing Crystal Reservoir section of the Gunnison.  We wait out a heavy rain then brave a short walk that crosses the Gunnison.  It is one of only two places where roads take us to the bottom of the canyon.  Rain chases us back to the car but not before we got a nice look at the canyon walls from below.

On to the NP and East Portal, the second river access point. This is where the Gunnison is finally really set free to tumble through the deepest sections of the gorge.  It is a carefully metered flow now thanks to dams and power generation plants but they have done a fair job placing equipment and power lines.  The place is still beautiful and wild looking.  It is easy to see how it was once considered impassable.  It is still considered unsafe for any navigation, even the crazy brave kayak guys.

The south rim. We are scheduled for a full moon hike out at the end of the drive so we spend the afternoon checking out every overlook along the way.  Sunlight filtered through constant cloud cover lends muted tones to the magnificent rock formations.  It is beautiful in this light too.

Our moonlight hike starts off under full cloud cover. The Ranger is has geology and astronomy facts to relate and lots of mythology and tales about the origin of the earth and the moon.  We reach Warner Point, the highest point on the canyon rim just a few minutes before moonrise.  A glow appears on the horizon the through a crack in the cloud cover we get a glimpse of the full moon before it dives back out of sight.  We stroll back the trail under the glow of the cloud shrouded moon (except the few who just HAVE to have a light…fun busters).  Periodically the moon peaks out for a few moments.  The world looks quite different in this light.  I like it.