hello! This is the story of Mayapaya's 34th trip to America.
Today you'll explore Gunnison's Black Canyon National Park in western Colorado before crossing the snow-capped 1,000-foot Monarch Pass in the Rocky Mountains into Salida.
Gunnison Black Canyon National Park is the deepest and most beautiful of the Gunnison River canyons. The spectacular view of the black valley of the Gunnison River was created by water and turbulent rocks slowly carving away at crystal-solid rock. This is the narrowest valley in North America and got its name because sunlight cannot reach the end of the valley. Gunnison Black Canyon National Park was belatedly designated as a national park in 1999.
Monarch Pass is a pass at 3,448 meters above sea level that crosses the Sawatch Mountains, a branch of the Rocky Mountains between Gunnison and Salida. As of May 19, there was still a lot of snow piled up near the top of the pass.
It takes you to Gunnison's Black Canyon National Park, a deep, dark, majestic and beautiful metamorphic rock valley and Monarch Pass over what includes the highest mountain range in the Rockies.