We hesitantly left a town we’d easily call home to start our trek back West across Utah, Nevada, and California, cutting through central Colorado South of I-70. The Rockies are simply gorgeous, but during the summer, like many forests in the West, they are on fire.
We passed multiple fires and fire team response stations as we drove down 285 through central Colorado. It was stunning to see all the work going into just trying to contain these fires, much less put them out. The response teams performed such excellent work to ensure that as few homes as possible were touched and that roads stayed open that we didn’t have to change route even once due to closed roads.
We were able to camp by some gorgeous lakes and drive through some really neat little Colorado towns on the way. The small settler towns in Colorado are all really neat, with some truly gorgeous houses, all surrounded by fantastic mountains.
Black Canyon
Our destination for this leg, however, was Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, located in South-Central Oregon. It’s not the nation’s biggest or steepest canyon, but there’s just something about this one that stays in my mind. It’s not really black – that name comes from the lack of sunlight that some areas face – but the layering of the rocks creates some gorgeous geology to gawk at and the trail leading out to Wagner Point is well worth the trek, as it leads to a phenomenal view down the canyon.
If you happen to be in the area, it’s well worth stopping by and checking out. It’s a gorgeous place to spend some time and you won’t be disappointed.
