Day 8 – Royal Gorge and Canon City

Day 8 – 5/20/2021 – Royal Gorge and Canon City

This morning we head to Royal Gorge and finally Canon City where we will stay for the night.  Route 50, the road we will travel, is closed for construction.  When we heard this, we checked the closure information and found that the road opens between 6:00 and 8:00AM and then again, at 1:00pm, so we are on the road by 6:00AM

Near the turnoff to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we have a great clear view of the mountains we will travel.

At the construction site, we decide that the work is not to repave part of the roadway, but to clear away what might have been an avalanche.  The heavy equipment and empty dump trucks also leads us to believe it is clean-up and not new work.  In any case we are not stopped due to work, so we are happy as we motor on through the area.

Following the Gunnison River, we pass places like Blue Mesa, Pine Creek, McIntyre Gulch, and Lake Fort.  The same river we saw running through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in the National Park at this location is a reservoir.

The Blue Mesa Reservoir, created by a dam on the Gunnison River, becomes the local recreational areas.  People are out in their boats fishing already. 

Nearing the town of Gunnison, we pass this field with longhaired and long-horned cattle.  Not sure, what kind they are, but Carmen was able to get a quick picture.

Having past Gunnison, we see a few more ranches with cattle and surprisingly lama or alpaca like this one. 

During our trips, I like to take pictures of flowers and lizards, while Carmen takes pictures of flowers and barns.  Here is one of the barns that she captured.  Check out the expanse of lands around the ranch. 

Nearing Monarch Crest, we see several deer in the field. 

We know that we are gaining elevation, because it is getting colder and there is snow.  But, as we get a clear view of the scenery it is clear we are getting close to the top of the pass.

Arriving at Monarch Crest, we are at the Continental Divide and at an elevation of 11,312 feet.  The flow of rivers and streams to the Atlantic is in front of us and to the Pacific behind us.  A great view of the mountains and I think the mountain on the left is Mt. Aetna and Taylor Mountain on the right, both which are still covered with a reasonably good amount of snow.  Oh, and one other thing it is 36F degrees.  

After crossing the Continental Divide, we made our way to Royal Gorge, before going to our hotel in Canon City.  On display by the parking area is an old Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad narrow-gauge, coal-burning steam locomotive.  The engine was built in 1902 as a standard gauge 2-8-0.  Later it was rebuilt in 1930 as a narrow-gauge 2-8-2, model K-37 to become Denver & Rio Grande Western # 499.  The engine was acquired in 1981 for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to run in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. 

We pay our entrance fee and await our turn for the gondola ride to the other side of the gorge.  There are two sets, one coming and the other going.  You can see the gondolas now, near the center of the picture, making their way across the gorge. 

While crossing the Gorge in the gondola we happen to see people climbing up the rocks.  This is a guided climbing tour allowing guests to hike and climb the granite rock walls of the gorge with controlled mountaineering equipment. 

On the other side of the gorge, we ascend to the high observation platform and have a great view of the full bridge span along with the Royal Gorge.  We’ll cross to the other side of the gorge using this bridge instead of the Cloudscraper Zipline. 

Looking at the gorge downstream, we can see where the river turns and disappears around the bend. 

Heading down to the bridge, we move to an area where we have another good view of the bridge.  While I am getting a picture of Carmen with the bridge in the background, a park Ranger stops and asked if we needed help and that there was a better picture stop where we just happened to leave.

As we near the bridge, we can see how the suspension cables anchor into the ground.  Each of the eighteen cables made up with at least 18 wires extends outwards. 

Here the cables come together to form a single suspension cable used to extend to the bridge uprights.

As Carmen enters the bridge, we learn about the Royal Gorge War.  During the late 1870’s, because of silver, both the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe and Denver & Rio Grande railroads wanted to run a rail line.  Because the gorge only has room for one line, a fierce war broke out between the corporations.  Both laying track during the day and dynamiting each other’s work at night.  The courts settled the war, awarding the right-of-way to the D&RG, but by then most of the silver boom was over.

Beginning our walk across the bridge, we hear the hollering of people and the whine of cables.  Looking over we can see a couple of people on the zipline.  It is a little hard to see, but there are two people on the zipline, a different way to return to the entrance; we are taking the bridge.

Crossing the bridge, there are State flags flying along the railings.  Also along the railings are other information, such as an indication of a mountain formation.  The mountain is called John F Kennedy Mountain.  Can you see the profile?

On the bridge, we look down and have a great view of the gorge.  You can clearly see the train tracks next to the river 1200 feet below us.

While we were looking out over the river, we watched as 4 white water boats made their way down river through the gorge. 

As I watched the boats navigate the river, the boats would hit a rock under the water in one particular spot and swing around.  In this view, the boat in front, the third boat in line from before, hung up on the rock and the boat in the back ran into it.  Also, notice one of the people from the boat in front is now in the water, the paddle in the water in front of him.

The flags of each state run along the railing.  Here is the Maine flag, where we lived before retiring to Florida.  But, the funny thing on the bridge was a sign on the railing that indicated “No Fishing from Bridge”.  Ha Ha, we are 1200 feet above the water, that would be a lot of fishing line.

Having crossed the bridge, we made our way back to the entrance and stopped at the café for a late lunch. 

While having lunch, the gondola was running again, so I get another picture before heading out

On our way out, we checked out the water clock.

Not far from Canon City, we leave the Royal Gorge for the hotel.  On our way out of the park, we can still see snow in the mountains around us. 

Tomorrow morning we head to the Colorado Sand Dunes and then afterwards go to Colorado Springs and depending on the time, we will do what we can.