Day 9 of Autumn 2023 Trip to Mountain States, Grand Mesa and Black Canyon of Gunnison

by admin

The nineth day of my autumn 2023 trip to the mountain states. I left Grand Junction in the morning, checked out the nearby Grand Mesa before spending the remainder of the day in the Black Canyon of Gunnison.

Black Canyon of Gunnison

Having checked out the impressive canyons and buttes in Colorado National Monument the previous day, my next stop on this trip was the Black Canyon of Gunnison, which was one of four national parks in Colorado. While it only took 1 hour of driving to reach its gateway town of Montrose, where I would be spending the night, I decided to take a detour onto Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. Given its elevation, foliage should be great at this time of the year.

Leaving Grand Junction, I70 entered some impressive canyon carved by the Colorado River.

Mount Garfield
A prominent mountain outside Grand Junction.
Mount Garfield
Canyon along Colorado River
Foliage on Grand Mesa
Foliage on Grand Mesa

Grand Mesa

Along CO-65 / Grand Mesa Scenic Byway, it’s a blend of colors on the northern slope of Grand Mesa, as seen from various roadside turnouts along the way. The dark forest green from the coniferous trees scattered around the deciduous aspens in different stages of transition from mint green to amber, creating a pleasing palette scene.

Foliage on Grand Mesa
Fields and Mountains
Chalk Mountain before Mountain Ranges
Foliage on Grand Mesa
Foliage on Grand Mesa
Foliage on Grand Mesa
Foliage on Grand Mesa
Foliage along Road
Foliage along Road

Below is a timelapse video from my windshield-mounted GoPro, recording my entire drive through Grand Mesa.

0:00 Leaving Interstate 70 at exit 49, onto Colorado State Route 65. This road follows the canyon carved out by Plateau Creek.
2:29 Continue on State Route 65 (after intersection with Route 330), heading onto Grand Mesa.
4:03 An overlook before Powderhorn Mountain Resort.
5:00 Another informal roadside overlook, facing northwest.
5:33 A more established overlook, with better views than the previous one.
5:57 A detour to Mesa Lakes region for some hiking.
6:53 Leaving Mesa Lakes.
7:50 An informal roadside turnout, overlooking Mesa Lakes below.
8:22 Leaving the trailhead of Land of Lakes. A short trail leading to arguably the best views from Grand Mesa, with Elk Mountains to the east and San Juan Mountains to the south, lining the distant horizon.
9:12 Ward Creek Reservoir. The final stop before heading down Grand Mesa.
This video ends upon reaching the town of Cedaredge.

Mesa Lakes Area

Before reaching the top of Grand Mesa, I made a stop at Mesa Lakes, where a series of lakes dotted the landscape. There, I checked out Mesa Lakes Trail (AllTrails link), a signature hike in the region that’s 5.1km in length with 130m of elevation gain, passing 5 lakes along the way.

And here’s GPS tracking:

Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Trail
Aspen Trees along Trail
Trail
Trail

The trail could be broken into two parts, an out-and-back towards Lost Lake, passing South Mesa Lake along the way, and a loop around Mesa Lake. For the part to Lost Lake, pine trees dominated aspens so there weren’t many sights of foliage. Apart from South Mesa Lake, there weren’t many views.

South Mesa Lake
South Mesa Lake
South Mesa Lake
South Mesa Lake
Rim of Grand Mesa in the background.

The trail ended at the shore of Lost Lake, whose water appeared in a mystical emerald color. ChatGPT believed the emerald color was created by snow griding bedrocks into fine particles that scattered light of shorter wavelength more. The steep slope (that trapped snow) and the abundance of rocks around its shores supported this theory, compared to other lakes in the area. They also gave the lake a secluded feeling, as if it’s detached from the real world where magic could happen.

Lost Lake
Lost Lake
Lost Lake
Trees by Lost Lake

While the emerald color of Lost Lake was certainly spectacular in its own, I much anticipated amber of the foliage as the theme color of my day on Grand Mesa, which wasn’t abundant around Lost Lake. Considering it took a relatively long (and somewhat boring) walk in the woods to reach Lost Lake, I wasn’t particularly thrilled by what it had to offer.

After tracing my steps back, I continued onto the loop trail around Mesa Lake. Mesa Lake was a larger and more open lake, with more foliage that looked fabulous underneath the sun.

Mesa Lake
Mesa Lake
Mesa Lake
Mesa Lake
Mesa Lake
Mesa Lake
Mesa Lake
Cove of Mesa Lake
Beaver Lake
Glacier Springs Lake

Finally, before I left the area, I checked out the nearby Sunset Lake. Slopes were gentle around Sunset Lake, augmenting its breadth. It also featured a fair share of aspen wearing foliage.

Foliage around Sunset Lake
Foliage around Sunset Lake
The rim of Grand Mesa in the background.
Sunset Lake
Foliage around Sunset Lake
Foliage around Sunset Lake

Foliage around Sunset lake

Not long after leaving Sunset Lake, a roadside turnout offered views “summarizing” the Mesa Lakes Area. The vantage point showcased the great extent of foliage that was hardly appreciated from the trail. (This would make a great drone shot, had I brought it for this trip.🤨)

Foliage on Grand Mesa
Sunset Lake Surrounded by Foliage
Northern Tip of Grand Mesa
Water Dog Reservoir before Chalk Mountain

The previous turnout was just before “Grand Mesa Nordic Council” on maps. Despite the name, Grand Mesa Scenic Byway travelled constantly up and down, with only a small portion “on” Grand Mesa (I only just made it on top Grand Mesa near the previous turnout). The majority of Grand Meas was now to my west, including the famous “Lands End Observatory” with towering views overlooking Grand Valley below. Unfortunately, the road to “Lands End Observatory” was largely unpaved and I didn’t have enough time for the day, so I skipped that.

Land O Lakes Overlook

Next along the way was “Land O Lakes Overlook”. This was probably the best (if not the only) named overlook along Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. From its parking lot, it’s an 800m loop trail to the actual overlook with unobstructed views to the south and the east.

Distant Satan’s Ridge

At the overlook, I found this striking group of mountains in the far background to the east. I knew Elk Mountains were to my east. Despite only having seen them on the internet, I instinctively guessed they were Capitol Peak (red) and Snowmass Mountain (blue), two of Colorado’s most challenging (and in the case of Capitol Peak, the most challenging) 14er’s. Connecting the two peaks was a treacherous ridge, appropriately named “Satan’s Ridge”, whose sight was intense even if I was more than 80km away. It’s a pity that I couldn’t get PeakVisor to work on the spot to confirm.

Apart from the distant Elk Mountains, “Crag Crest” was a prominent view from the overlook. Looking at satellite images, it seemed to me that Grand Mesa narrowed down to a ridge/crest as it extended east, which formed this “Crag Crest”. To its south, alpine lakes dotted the landscape, and hance the overlook was named “land of lakes”. Although only “Island Lake” was visible from this overlook. The 16.6km loop trail on and off Crag Crest was a popular one in the region, which I didn’t have time for today.
In addition, to the distant south across North Fork Valley, West Elk Mountains and San Juan Mountains popped into view. Down the hazy horizon their rugged and uninterrupted contours were unmistakably the iconic Colorado mountain scene, and it’s not often that they came together into one shot. I planned to climb a few mountains in the San Juan range in the coming days, and this overlook served as an exciting preview of what’s to come.

View from Land O Lakes Overlook

Island Lake before Crag Crest
Island Lake before Crag Crest
Fields and Distant Mountains
Elk Mountains in the background left, San Juan Mountains in the background right.
Distant West Elk Mountains
East Beckwith Mountain in the center.
Lakes and Distant West Elk Mountains

After “Land O Lakes Overlook”, Grand Mesa Scenic Byway started its descent from Grand Mesa. I tried to check out “Grand Mesa Visitor Center” down the corner but unfortunately it’s closed. Based on the looks from the previous overlook, the alpine lakes near “Crag Crest” were surrounded by coniferous forest so there wasn’t much foliage. So I quickly checked out “Ward Creek Reservoir” along the road, before continuing south.

Ward Creek Reservoir
Ward Creek Reservoir
Ward Creek

As elevation lowered, foliage appeared on the deciduous trees and bushes. Some of the bushes had fiery red leaves, a welcome addition to the amber from aspens earlier.

Road
Road
Road
Road
Road
Road

A quick conclusion of Grand Mesa. While it offered some medium to long hiking trails, I felt it’s a proper destination for a road trip, in that the best it had to offer was never far from the road, be it the aspen grove surrounding Sunset Lake, or the spectacular mountains from “Land O Lakes Overlook”. Driving nonstop from Grand Junction to Montrose, Google estimated a detour to Grand Mesa only added one hour to the trip, which was well worth it especially during this time of year where the forest had the most vibrant colors. In addition, Grand Mesa was popular for winter activities too as its elevation meant it often saw snowfall well into June, so maybe in the future I would check it out in a different season.

After that, I headed towards Montrose where I had a late lunch. After dropping off luggage at my overnight hotel, I headed towards Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Black Canyon of Gunnison

This was a national park, encompassing parts of Gunnison River where it flew through a very steep canyon. The canyon was so steep that parts of its bottom only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day. As a result, the canyon was often in shadows, and its walls appearing dark, hence the name.
The park has two visitor entrances, the south rim from Montrose with the most facilities, and the north rim from Crawford with unpaved roads. Since I didn’t like unpaved roads with my car, I only visited the south rim.

Gunnison Point

This was the first overlook after entering the park, next to the visitor center, where the size and the overwhelming steepness of the canyon was in full display.
A number of factors contributed to the canyon’s steepness, mostly Gunnison River as it made a very rapid descent flowing through the area while carving out the canyon. The many torrents (such as p3 below) could attest this.
As for the canyon walls near Gunnison Point, they had some striking vertical features that extended their entire height. Looking downstream, the myriad layers of the canyon (p5 below)and their soaring heights were reminiscent of skyscrapers in a futuristic metropolis.

Gunnison River from Gunnison Point
Gunnison Canyon
Taken towards the end of the day after sunset, so there were no shadows in the canyon.
Gunnison River from Gunnison Point
Poison Spring Hill across Gunnison Canyon
Relatively flat fields and steep canyon walls.
Gunnison Canyon Downstream

Taken towards the end of the day after sunset, unfortunately in this shot there were shadows from the moon.

Pulpit Rock

Next I made a stop at Pulpit Rock Overlook. Despite its name, I couldn’t quite tell which piece of rock was the actual “Pulpit Rock”. The difference in gradient of the canyon’s two rims were most evident here, where the north rim (left) was much steeper than the south (right). It’s believed that the north rim got more sunshine with faster snow melt, and hence received less erosion.

Gunnison Canyon from Pulpit Rock
Gunnison Canyon from Pulpit Rock

Devil’s Lookout

Next I checked out Devil’s Lookout. Like many overlooks in the park, this lookout was located a short walk away from the road. This part of the south rim had seen heavier erosion, as I found myself among more textured rocks that appeared as isolated pillars or islands.

Boulders in Parallel

The three nearby overlooks (Devil’s Lookout, Rock Point and Cross Fissures View) are similar, in that they followed mini ridges / peninsulas that extended into Gunnison Canyon. I picked Devil’s Lookout since it’s the furthest one could go. The red arrow indicated the nearby “Rock Point” lookout. The boulders extended beyond the overlook for some distance, but they were too rugged to make a hiking trail on top.
Gap between Boulders

The boulders beyond the nearby “Rock Point” overlook was too rugged for a hiking trail. Here a gap formed between two vertical walls, like a portal or gate.
West Elk Mountains

Landsend Peak, Coal Mountain and (a little bit of) Mount Lamborn. The access road of Gunnison’s North Rim also visible.
Torrents along Gunnison River

Among the three nearby overlooks this was likely the only one with direct views of Gunnison River down below.
Chasm
Between Devil’s Lookout and Rock Point.
Gunnison Canyon

Looking east. Erosion separated Cross Fissures View (red arrow) from the island in the center background with a gap. Erosion created cracks and rugged surface of boulders on this side of the canyon.
Walls of Gunnison Canyon
The signature white strips came into view.

To be honest, I couldn’t appreciate why this spot was called “Devil’s Lookout” as I didn’t find anything devious. Maybe the layered canyon view to the northwest?

Cedar Point

Then it’s another highlight of the park, its “painted” canyon walls.
The walls of Gunnison Canyon were some of the oldest on earth (1.7 billion years old, about one-third of earth’s age). Among these canyon walls were white stripes made of Pegmatite, formed by molten rock that intruded into existing rocks. It’s most obvious at “Painted Wall” where a sheer vertical wall was interleaved by a few striking white horizontal stirpes. Since I couldn’t find parking at “Painted Wall View”, I drove to the next overlook of “Cedar Point”.
Apart from the painted walls, it’s also a good spot to watch the Gunnison River flowing downstream amid the lofty canyon it carved through.

Black Canyon of Gunnison
Painted Wall of Gunnison
Painted Wall of Gunnison
Painted Wall of Gunnison
Torrents along Gunnison River

Warner Point

Then I checked out Warner Point, which required a short 2.4km out-and-back trail from the western end of South Rim Road.

Along the trail, from time to time, clearing amid plants offered some views, such as San Juan Mountains to the south and West Elk Mountains to the north, in addition to the painted walls of Gunnison Canyon.

Trail
Trail
Mendicant Ridge
Parking lot for “Sunset View” in the foreground.
Uncompahgre Mountains to the South
Uncompahgre Peak in the background left.
Fields and Distant Sneffels Range Mountains
Mount Sneffels as the prominent mountain in the center background.
Gunnison Canyon
Gunnison Canyon

While Warner Point featured the greatest depth of the Gunnison Canyon compared to the overlooks earlier, it’s further laid back from the canyon, so it didn’t have the feeling of a sheer dropoff. In addition, further west Gunnison Canyon no longer featured steep walls (p3-4 below) that kept me captivated for the day. Given that the hike to Warner Point was significantly longer than other overlooks, unfortunately this was my least favorite of the day.

Gunnison Canyon before West Elk Mountains
Gunnison Canyon before West Elk Mountains
Gunnison Canyon
Gunnison Canyon

Sunset View

It’s approaching sunset time, and since I was disappointed by what Warner Point had to offer, I decided to watch sunset at “Sunset View”. After racing back from Warner Point, I pulled into the last parking spot at “Sunset View”, right in time for the sunset.

Gunnison Canyon from Sunset View
Gunnison Canyon from Sunset View
Gunnison Canyon from Sunset View
Distant Gunnison Canyon
Sunset
Sunset Glow over Western Horizon
Walls of Gunnison Canyon
Torrents along Gunnison River

I felt the views here were better than Warner Point, in that more of Gunnison River was visible. I envisioned the view would be more spectacular had the sun set directly above Gunnison River/Canyon. Here the river flew west-northwest and the sun set strictly towards the west (near autumnal equinox). For this season, I figured maybe a better spot to watch the sunset was Cedar Point / Dragon Point.

Chasm View

In the twilight hours after sunset, I made a final stop at Chasm View (since this time I could find parking). This was the narrowest point of the canyon, with its two rims separated by 400 meters (and the river almost 600m below), hence the name “chasm”. A finishing touch for my day at Black Canyon of Gunnison.

Cliff across Chasm View
Pinyon Draw

One of the few trails leading from north rim to Gunnison River, on an incline that’s not as steep compared to the cliffs in front of me on the south rim.
Gunnison Canyon from Chasm View
Cliff across Chasm View