In The Shadow of Longs Peak
20 May 2012
I get up early, the day of our leaving. Lots of birds chirping and the sun just peeked over the wing-gate sandstone cliff across the river and in the background, the continuous sound of water running over the rapids above.
During the early morning hours, I think I heard a rattlesnake outside my tent…but maybe I was dreaming.
We pack up, paddle out, hike up to get the cars, unload boats and I am on my way home.
19 May 2012
We hiked up Dominguez Canyon today, one of the highlights of this trip. Lots of rock art which seemed to me that spanned several epochs: some seemed to be those amoeba-like and spirit figures of long ago; some were of people on horses indicating they were from the post 1500’s. An interesting thing is that despite the creek there does not seem to be signs of permanent habitation (graneries for instance) so I expect the creators of these works were hunter-gatherer types, not involved in agriculture.
The other thing of note in the canyon is the creek running over a layer of black rock, including this one cool spot where the water had carved channels into the rock then over the edge into an even deeper canyon.
Gunnison River and Dominguez Canyon
18 May 2012 - 20 May 2012
18 May 2012
I left Lyons yesterday before 1 PM – early by my standards – and was driving away from Boulder at 2 PM, again early by my standards.
My destination is Delta, Colorado, a place I have never been. I have reservations for the Comfort Inn there, as a motel seemed like the easiest overnight venue overall. Next time I might consider simply camping at one of the BLM trailheads or staying at the Wine Country Inn at Palisade.
I arrive safely and was settled in by 8:30 PM. I had a hard time sleeping but did sleep.
Up and on my way at 7 AM, arriving at the put-in way early but it did give me ample time to get ready. We shuttled down to White Water, Colorado and the Lazy S Motel, a rather run down place but still a good place to park. We are shuttled back to the put-in by Jerry Nolan who authors the conservation notes. We are in the boats and underway by 10:30 or so.
Getting on the water proves to be interesting. I slide my boat in behind a rock I would have been better off getting in front of. Plus, a fully loaded boat proves to be difficult to maneuver into the current. But finally I am headed downstream even if feeling a bit timid.
There is a rapid in a couple of miles and you can hear it long before you get to it. Everyone lines it, including me, except for one tandem canoe.
Next obstacle is a diversion dam, which we again hear long before we see it. Here we go left.
As we paddle, the wind comes up, serious in your face wind. I pull aside and wait for the others (sea kayaks are more efficient in the wind compared to canoes) and wonder at what speed does the wind start to pick the water.
Now we see tents as we approach Dominguez Canyon where there is another rapid that we line on the left where there is not quite enough water to paddle. We pick a campsite just below the canyon in a grove of cottonwoods whose leaves are shimmering in the sunlight. The ground is covered with softer-than-beach-sand, the accumulation of a millennium of flooding, beat down sandstone from above and ground up river rock from below.
Looking upstream are various landforms, all with sheer faces of a red layer of sandstone stained with the black patina of desert varnish and each face have piles of rubble where walls have let loose. Upstream to the right, the cliffs are topped with tundra held in place by the pinyon / juniper / sage so prolific in this area.
Now I move down closer to the river, above our camp but still below the canyon. There is a spit of flat rocks that just hollers for someone to come, sit, and draw.
I expect these same flat rocks jut into the water and that is what is creating the riffles of water thru here. The interesting thing is that the water here, at least in places, seem to have the color of glacial silt. The sound is calming and interesting as each riffle seems to have it’s own unique sound and the sound seems to differ depending on the current position of the riffle which seems to follow a pattern of building up and then dis-integrating, much like a wave.