Montrose, CO (9/23 724/2018) and Blue Mesa (9/25/2018)

After a summer with few memorable sunsets, there have been several of late that may be worth sharing.  One occurred on the night of the full moon and added a little color to the moon as it rose over the adobe hills.

On Tuesday, I took a full day checking out Fall color to the east of Montrose, starting on Blue Mesa.  This is actually a short cut to Lake City, but had some nice scenery on its own.

As I reached the bridge over Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, I remembered that I had never explored the canyon starting at that point.  I had all day, so why not do it now?  It proved to be a beautiful slice through the mesa created by the river over millions of years.  The mesa itself is the result of volcanic activity some 25-35 million years ago.  In the late 1800s, the Durango & Rio Grande Railroad laid tracks through the canyon to transport ore from the mines in Lake City.  The tracks were removed long ago, but the roadbed created back then now serves as a narrow shelf road to access the canyon.  The road is mostly used by fishermen and folks wanting to use the few camp sites in the canyon.

A landslide some ten or twelve years ago temporarily dammed the river, but the river eventually moved the debris out of the way.  The road was also cleared, but remains of the slide can still be seen.  Also, a cave where railroad construction workers stored dynamite and other supplies can be visited.

 

I'll wait for another travelogue update to cover the rest of that day's adventures.