Black Canyon of the Gunnison owes its name to the fact that its gorge only receives 33 minutes of sunlight each day. It is not as massive as the Grand Canyon, nor as deep. It is very narrow and its walls are the steepest of all the canyons I have ever seen.
There is no way to hike down from the rim to the bottom. One could drive down a steep road, with a 16% grade, to the east end of the canyon, but there is no trail there to hike into the canyon. So we confined our visit to driving on the south rim and we hiked short trails to 12 overlooks to take pictures.
The patterns in the above photo look to me like giant petroglyphs carved by nature. However, they were created a billion years ago when molten lava inserted itself into cracks in the pre-existing rocks. It then cooled and became like 3-dimensional paintings.
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Dalo 2013 said:
I’m becoming very envious of your travels 🙂
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neihtn2012 said:
I hope you will also make this kind of trip some time soon!
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Tiny said:
A majestic place! And lit only while the sun passes right over it. Thanks for sharing, Hien.
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neihtn2012 said:
Glad you like it, Tiny!
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nowathome said:
Must be an amazing place to see!!!
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neihtn2012 said:
It is a very nice place to visit, and it is small enough so that it does not overwhelm your senses. Thank you for commenting.
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Khanh said:
Very beautiful and impressive.
Thanks for sharing Anh Hien.
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neihtn2012 said:
Glad you liked this post. Thanks for visiting and commenting.
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Traveling Rockhopper said:
Painted Wall looks great!
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you! The Painted Wall is great, especially considering what took place to make it look like that.
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