Wild Surroundings at Black Canyon of the Gunnison

01Our National Parks journey this week takes us to the western state of Colorado.

02There, you will find a 77-kilometer-long canyon.

03Its exposed rocks are among the oldest you will find on Earth.

04The canyon is so narrow and so deep that sunlight shines only briefly at the bottom at midday.

05That frequent darkness is what has given this canyon its name.

06Welcome to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

07Black Canyon seems impossibly steep and narrow.

08The fast-moving Gunnison River formed the canyon over millions of years.

09As the river flows through the canyon, it drops an average of 18 meters per kilometer.

10The Gunnison River loses more elevation in its 77-kilometer canyon stretch than the Mississippi River does in 2,400 kilometers from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

11This loss in elevation causes the river to gain speed and force.

12Over time, that force has carved and cut the hard rock and created the wild and jagged rock formations found at Black Canyon.

13That process is known as erosion.

14At its widest, Black Canyon is 14 kilometers.

15At its deepest point, it is 829 kilometers from the canyon edge to the floor.

16Black Canyon attracted little attention from early western explorers.

17In fact, no early Spanish explorers to the southwestern United States reported seeing Black Canyon.

18The first written record about the canyon came in 1873.

19The Ute Indians certainly knew of Black Canyon.

20But only its rim, never the gorge, shows evidence of past human occupation.

21Even today, the depth and steepness of Black Canyon make it extremely difficult for humans to access.

22Birds, however, have no problem surviving in the canyon environment.

23Black Canyon is home to many kinds of birds.

24They live at the canyon rim, along its walls, and by the river.

25Mountain bluebirds and great horned owls live in the rim area.

26The owls eat seeds and berries from the pinion, juniper, and oak trees found there.

27Canyon wrens sing loudly within Black Canyon.

28Visitors are more likely to hear the birds than see them.

29They build their nests on flat surfaces of the canyon walls.

30So do peregrine falcons.

31They prey on other birds.

32They dive at speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour to catch them.

33American dippers build their nests in the gorge next to the Gunnison River.

34A gorge is a narrow valley between hills or mountains.

35These dippers feed on insects and small fish.

36Some people come to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park for world-class bird watching.

37But it is the canyon itself that appeals to most visitors.

38Walking along the rim, seeing the canyon's towering cliffs, and hearing the powerful flow of the Gunnison River far below is an overwhelming experience.

39At Black Canyon, visitors can view some of the planet's oldest exposed rocks.

40They are Precambrian rocks.

41Precambrian accounts for the Earth's history from its very beginning up until about 540 million years ago.

42Precambrian rocks are described as basement rocks because they are usually buried deep under the surface.

43They only become exposed when younger rocks have been cut away by erosion or other forces.

44At Black Canyon, the Gunnison has eroded the canyon walls so greatly that Precambrian rocks have become visible.

45Often, the canyon's rock walls look like works of art.

46Different kinds of rocks fold together and form colorful patterns.

47The patterns change as sunlight hits different parts of the walls.

48One area of the canyon is known as Painted Wall.

49It is the highest cliff in Colorado.

50Long pink bands of rock cover this section of the canyon, as if a person took a paintbrush to the wall.

51This pattern formed as hot liquid from below the Earth's surface forced its way into rock cracks.

52As it slowly cooled, large crystals formed.

53The bands get their pink color from a crystallized mineral called potassium feldspar.

54Local people knew just how special Black Canyon was.

55They began urging Congress to protect the canyon in the 1930s.

56It became a national monument in 1933.

57And in 1999, it became a national park.

58The park protects more than 22 kilometers of the canyon.

59Most visitors spend their time exploring the canyon rim by foot or by car.

60Several kilometers of trails lead to many overlook points.

61A road also leads to several breathtaking views.

62The U.S.

63Congress named the lands below the canyon rim a wilderness preservation system.

64This is meant to protect forever the land's natural conditions.

65Some adventurous travelers choose to explore this wilderness by hiking down to the inner canyon.

66There are no marked trails to guide them.

67Hikers must first get a wilderness use permit.

68These permits are free, but only a limited number are available each day.

69Many of the paths are difficult to follow.

70Some are also dangerous.

71The Warner Point Trail, for example, drops more than 820 meters.

72Walking down takes more than two hours.

73Walking back up can take up to four hours.

74The Park Service warns that poison ivy grows wildly in the inner canyon.

75There is also the risk of falling rocks.

76But to reach a place where no humans ever tried to live is the reward.

77In the words of a 1901 explorer to Black Canyon's river area, Our surroundings were of the wildest possible description.

78The roar of the water was constantly in our ears.

79Occasionally, a rock would fall from one side or the other with a roar and a crash, Exploding like a ton of dynamite when it struck bottom, Making us think our last day had come.

80I'm Ashley Thompson.

81And I'm Katie Weaver.

82Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music