Dillon Pinnacles

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 1:15
Elevation Gain: 447ft

The Dillon Pinnacles are are located along Blue Mesa Reservoir about 20 miles West of Gunnison. They were created by eroded West Elk Breccia, a composite rock spewed from the volcanic West Elk Mountains 30 million years ago.

An easy hike through sage brush and evergreen, you can get up close to the rock formations without much effort, while enjoying a constant view of the Blue Mesa Reservoir to the South.

The hike is completely open - no shade - which was great on a such a beautiful afternoon. Until the storm clouds started rolling in ... No storms were predicted for today but we've had them every afternoon this week so I was getting a little worried since I was still about a mile from the trailhead when the sky became dark. But by the time I got home the clouds cleared and only a few raindrops fell.

Fields of sage brush - smells so good!

Sage brush seems to be everywhere around here and it smells so good! It smells a bit woodier than the kind you stuff your turkey with, which is good because I have no kitchen to satisfy such cravings with.

Up close!

About halfway down the trail is a spur trail that I turned down on the way back, despite the looming storm clouds, but then thought better of it. After all there were signs indicating large wildlife, which I am never anxious to see outside of a zoo.

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North Vista Trail, Black Canyon

Distance: 7.8 miles (including the spur trail to Exclamation Point)
Time: 2:15 (though I ran part of the trail)
Elevation Gain: 870 feet

The South Rim of Black Canyon begins in Gunnison County and extends 48 miles Northwest. At its greatest depth, 2722 feet, it is the third deepest canyon in America after Hells Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

Black Canyon as seen from the road

The North Vista Trail starts at the North Rim and winds up to Exclamation Point, where some of the best inner-canyon views can be found. From there, you can continue up to Green Mountain for views of the San Juan Mountains, the West Elks, and other area ranges.

Inner Canyon from Exclamation Point, Elevation 7702 ft.

Since part of Black Canyon is in Gunnison, it didn't occur to me to check the distance to the North Rim before leaving so when I noticed the nearly two-hour drive on the GPS I was a little disheartened. After 2000 miles of driving in the previous week, the last thing I wanted to was to tack on another four hours today. But the drive is entirely a scenic byway, and one of most beautiful I've seen, so it went by quickly.

Gunnison River flowing through the canyon

What I love about the trails in the West, at least the ones outside the Forest (and even some in the Forest), is they are open; the views are not blocked by skyward trees. The trails are dirt/sand, not overgrown with roots and vegetation or disguised by rocks and small boulders.What annoys me about these trails is it's difficult to find one with an elevation change of more than 2000 feet, which makes for easy hiking regardless of the trail length.

Nice running path!

But it occurred to me today as I was walking along the nearly level dirt path through the sage and oak brush fields, I could run the trail.  I would never dare run even an easy trail in the White Mountains because I would surely trip and break something. But these trails contained few obstacles and were certainly runnable. So that's what I did. I hiked when the trail ascended more than a modest amount or when I came to a scattering of rocks or when it when its edge came nervously close to a drop-off, but otherwise I ran and it felt wonderful.

Blue Mesa Dam, 1 of 3 dams along the Gunnison River

As much as I have always loved running, I've never done it for recreation. It's always been a planned activity reserved for staying in shape or training for a race. Today I felt like a child bounding down the trail, unburdened by a distance goal or my pace glaring at me from my running watch.

The North Vista Trail is rated as one of the "Best Hikes Ever" by Backpacker Magazine and one of the top ten canyon hikes by National Geographic. I thought it was a great trail, but best ever?

Gunnison, Colorado

Today captured the true spirit of my adventure as I had originally conceived it more than a year ago when I left Florida. I wanted to experience travel through activity, to understand a place by feeling it under my feet, being immersed energetically. Every city or town or area has character the same way a person does, and its true nature can be evoked in the same way that one connects to anything else. For some that may be religion or companionship. For me it has always been by moving.

Town of Gunnison

For many runners, running is their religion. Only through this repetitive motion does a runner feel centered, at peace and connected to their family, friends, community and universe. I feel this way when running, but also when hiking or biking - essentially by moving in nature - and it is how I connect best with everything and everybody in life.

I've done a lot of hiking in the past year, very little biking, and running essentially to keep in shape; a fragmented way of moving through travel, and not ideal.

I arrived in Gunnison this morning around 10:00am after stopping two hours short last night at the top of a mountain pass outside Denver. I had planned to stay in the city but failed to get off the highway before it turned up the mountain. 

Blue Mesa Reservoir

The best way to see a new town or city is to run through it, but instead I grabbed my bike and rode the 2.5 miles into town. Without a car I was able to stop and see anything that might be of interest, including the River Festival, which from what I saw consisted of some balloons tied to the bridge that crossed the river. Where I come from a festival has tents, beer and questionable characters, but I guess a mother with a baby stroller on a bridge with balloons can be joyous as well.

Blue Mesa Reservoir

About 10 miles West of town in the Blue Mesa Reservoir / Lake. Twenty miles long and with over 100 miles of shoreline, it is the largest body of water in Colorado. Mountains and beach - I knew I picked the right place! Katie and I walked down the beach and she gravitated to the water like she never has before. Although half-way back from our walk she was tired and I had to carry her the rest of the way. It couldn't have been more than a mile but I suppose it was hot...

Katie loves the water here!

I had so much fun on my bike in the morning, I went for another ride in the afternoon on a side dirt road close to the campground. Riding along, I came to a cattle fence. I don't know what else to call it, but I've only seen them in the West. It's up or down, depending on where they want their cattle I guess. Anyway, I felt a little weird crossing it because it looked like private property (though it was not marked as such),  and when I turned my head I saw a trail, up a hill, leading up to a bigger hill, marked as public land for multi-use. Now these are the same kind of hills I saw in New Mexico - no trees; no trail required - you could just walk up to the top without getting lost or bushwhacking. Everytime I see one, I want to go climb it, but of course I don't because I rely on Google to find trailheads.

Trail up the hill -- the bigger one to the right is where it goes

But today was no ordinary day so I locked up my bike on a nearby fence and I climbed it, or part of it anyway, since I only had a quarter of a bottle of water left and it looked pretty long and it was hot. Then I ran back down the trail, mostly because walking down is boring, but nonetheless I completed the trifecta of endurance travel, and in a spontaneous fashion even.

View from the top of the first mini-hill

My life rocks.

Toledo to South Bend

I don't hate Indiana. Yesterday I was in desperate need of a shower so I drove three hours to a campground in Elkhart, near South Bend. I made progress on my journey to Colorado while vastly improving my living conditions.

About 15 miles into Indiana the tire blew on my camper, again. This time it was full of air so perhaps it was just old or the tire Gods were angry. After 20 minutes on hold with AAA, about 20 seconds after the kindly agent told me I was on my own since my plan did not cover "commercial" or "RV" (frankly neither apply here), a cop pulled up behind me. Picture the quintessential Mid-Western rookie policeman and that's who approached eagerly offering to change my tire, if only I had a jack. I had a spare this time, but still no jack. So, he did what I supposed friendly Mid-Westerners do; he called another policeman who did indeed have a jack and lug wrench in his trunk.

So, in 90+ degree heat, on the burning asphalt on the side of the highway, in full uniform, this young man changed my tire, while making polite conversation, sweat dripping generously from his brow. I like Indiana. The other two officers, in their middle-aged complacent heft, rattled on about who knows what, occasionally offering a hand without any expectation of doing so.

The process was slow enough that I watched carefully and realized with alarm that I am idiot for not being able to do this myself. So today, while in Walmart purchasing a new tire, I also bought a jack and a lug wrench. I am no longer at the mercy of AAA or Mid-Western cops.

Indiana is very sunny. So much so, it reminds me of Florida. Probably the lack of trees and the reflection off the yellow, dying grass makes it seem brighter, but I'm very fond of it. I'm also very, very fond of the shower situation at the campground. It's an immaculate bathroom, but also a much more utilitarian shower than I've experienced at a campground. It's clear men design the bathrooms in these places, perhaps the same men who designed the toilet paper dispenser that diligently dispenses only one sheet at a time, but this designer was either female or had feminine inclinations.

Finally clean, I am enjoying my last sunny day in Indiana while reading a book in the open field of dead grass next to my camper. I love it here.

Leaving New Hampshire, Again

Boy drama continues, and it is again time to resume my travels. Some people just aren't meant to couple and I guess I am one of them, and I guess I already knew that before I drove 2000 miles across the country to prove it. I do love New Hampshire in the Summer but I'm excited to get back on the road and see what else is out there.

I left before sunrise on Sunday with the hopes of reaching South Bend, Indiana so I didn't have to stay an entire week in Ohio. With the exception of one glorious business trip to Cleveland, rife with untamed debauchery, my experiences with the state have been grim and I didn't want to drive through it much less stay there.

But South Bend is a 15-16 hour drive and I just don't have that much stamina. So instead I am near Sandusky in an RV Park with no shower. I stink. The bathroom is so disgusting I drove into town this morning to brush my teeth at McDonalds. After waiting for an employee to leave the bathroom so as not to alarm her by making myself at home, I couldn't get the water to turn on more than once. It was motion activated and apparently there's a delay, a really long one. So, I stuck my already toothpasted-toothbrush back into my purse and walked next door to Burger King where I had a private, extremely clean bathroom with faucets that turn. Tomorrow I'm going back for a sponge bath.

Here's the thing: I'm not miserable. Despite my stench, location and the steady stream of brutal text messages from my ex, I am strangely optimistic, motivated, even inspired. I don't even hate Ohio anymore. My site is shaded with pretty trees.  The sun shines, then it downpours, then it's sunny again. The humidity is unbearable, but I have a huge fan that takes up 20% of my floor space. Kind of like home. But no hurricanes. Yet.