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?