Have you ever done a thing that you weren't expecting to do, and the thing ends up being amazing? Or you have low expectations that are way exceeded, like, way?
This past weekend, we took a quick camping trip, not really expecting anything special. The whole thing was sort of born out of, "well, we haven't been camping in a while...", like we needed to change the oil or something.
We'd heard of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, but had never been there, and Magnum managed to find an available camping spot, so we reserved it and made plans to go. Surprisingly, the whole fam was available and willing.
So we got there late Saturday, and no one really knew anything about it.
Me: I thought you had researched this place
Chaco: I don't know anything about it, I thought you and Dad researched it
Magnum: I saw it on a map of Colorado...
Wolfgang: I googled some images last night after you said where we were going...
Meego: ...
So, the clueless went camping. Bottom line? Sometimes that can be the best way to go and be pleasantly surprised!
But I'll skip the campground, because that was nothing to blog anywhere about. But the canyon!
 |
| SOURCE |
Oh. My. God.
We got to the campground and found a trail that followed the rim of the canyon, so we could look down into it.
But we were still clueless about the place. Was it possible we could GO down into it?
Answer: Yes
Us: Yipee
There are a number of steep trails that take hikers down to the canyon bowels. They have names like "S.O.B. Draw" and "Devil's Backbone" and "Long Draw," formerly known as "Devil's Slide".
We chose the one that looked the most friendly, because we'd been clueless and because of Magnum's knees.
And it was way fun and amazing and exceeded our expectations. Surprise weekend fun. The trail was about a mile long with a vertical drop of 1800 feet.
It was quite steep, but with plenty of large rocks and tree roots to get footing on, unlike much of the other trails, which aren't all that well marked and are loaded with scree.
Plus, about a third of the way down was an 80 ft. long chain to help keep us from plummeting to our deaths through a particularly steep portion.
So it was actually quite fun getting down there, and of course, the views were extraordinary
"kicked my ass"
He's usually the master of preparation as well as Mr. Worst Case Scenario, so this sort of thing was outside his comfort zone for a number of reasons. He was betting on us dying from heat exhaustion and/or dehydration.
I assured him that we would not.
...since the fall would probably kill us.
.
8 comments:
Amazing! I have been there a couple of times (once recently), but I've never done any hiking or camping. It looks fantastic.
The campground was very meh. The hiking made up for it! I hope you make it back and down! (and back up...)
Wow, what a fantastic weekend, it looks like you all really had a great time, it's good when lack of research and preparation works out so well and turns a spur of the moment trip into such an excellent adventure.
It really was beautiful and fun. Summer is allowed to end whenever it feels like it now.
I bet that chain wouldn't have stopped me from killing myself. What a healthy family you are! Glad you had such a great time. I stick with getting fat on flumps. :D
For me, it was going to Cleveland this past week. I thought it would be meh, but it turned out to be pretty fantastic. If I compared it to your trip though... it's back to being meh.
How cool that the whole fam was available, and how cool is that Black Canyon!! Did your fear of heights bother you? I can't imagine my equally fearful hubby being able to climb down into it.
I had to google "flumps" when I read your posh holiday post. I think the flumps would probably kill me from sugar shock!
I say anytime you go to a new place and it turns out to be fantastic is just fantastic and not meh!
My fear of heights doesn't bother me so much as long as my feet are on the ground, so the hike was not a problem. I had troubles looking over the railing at the overlook, however!
Post a Comment