Our Journey : Sapinero

6/10/2014

June 7-8th, 2014 Blue Mesa Dam and Hanging Out

Saturday, 7th, we took a rest from sightseeing and stayed home.

We woke on Sunday, 8th, to cloudy skies and decided to go to Gunnison for supplies. On our way back, the skies grew ominous and it started to rain. By the time we got back to the motorhome, the winds were really picking up. And for the next few hours we watched the storm - we even pulled our slide in since it was so windy and the motorhome was shaking.

By early afternoon, the rain and wind stopped and we started seeing some blue skies. So off we went for a little road trip. Blue Mesa Dam is near us and it is the uppermost dam in the the Wane N. Aspinall Unit dams of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Colorado River Storage Project.

“Blue Mesa Dam, completed in 1965, is a 785’ long zoned earth fill structure with a crest width of 30 feet. The earth and rock-filled embankment contains three zones of selected rock, cobbles, sand, and clay. The dam stands 390 feet high from the stream bed. Water is released from the reservoir through large pipes called penstocks that extend through the dam and into the power plant where the water turns two turbines. Each turbine has the capacity to generate 48,000 KW of electricity. The two generating units are operated by remote control from the operations center at Glen Canyon Dam.

Additional water can be released through the outlet works and the spillway.”

The road crosses the top of the dam and there is a little parking area on the north side. This is the first sign we saw there:

More information on the dam:

The top of the dam:

The spill way:

There are two channels and the water was really flowing:

Our next stop was the dam overlook. The two channels are on the right are from the power plant and the flow on the left is what is coming over the spillway. The sound was loud!

We met a ranger there who gave us information on the Colorado River Basin and all the waterways plus things to see along the roadway.

One of the interesting things he told us was that today at Morrow Point Dam, water is flowing from the four portholes – first time since 1995 – 19 years ago.

Another interesting tidbit about the storm this morning – The wind at the visitor center (12 miles from us) was recorded at 70 MPH – Sheesh, no wonder we were rocking and rolling.

Here is a picture of the Morrow Point Dam from a few days ago with only two open:

Now there are four open – WOW – LOTS of water!

Back to our tour – this is after the Dam – the Gunnison River – BUT, it is actually Morrow Point Lake. The dock below is where the Morrow Lake Boat Tour starts. It is a mile from the parking lot – down 242 stairs then a 3/4 mile walk. That tour is still on my bucket list! (They will not be running until July – )

Wouldn’t it be cool to take a boat trip down this lake/river:

Our last stop was the over looks for the Curecanti Needle:

Here it is:

The Curecanti Creek – snowmelt runoff:

Running into the Gunnison River/Morrow Point Reservoir:

Looks like a castle, doesn’t it:

We made our way back to the dam and decided to take a side trip to Soap Creek Road:

This is the road that we see directly across from the campground. We went a few miles and enjoyed the views and decided we would LOVE a piece of property here for the summer – LOL! Anyway, the skies started to darken and the winds picked up so we headed back. Here is the campground from across the reservoir – notice the skies:

Closer view – we are the second from the right:

Back home, the storm rolled in with rain and wind – oh my….

We have enjoyed our stay here and will keep this on our bucket list – so many more places to explore.

Tomorrow we are heading to Coalville for two days – hopefully there will be internet – .

Stay tuned and enjoy today.

June 6, 2014 Black Canyon of the Gunnison

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Today’s adventure took us to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Our first stop was the visitor center to see the museum and the film (great) plus get some information on the park.

“The canyon has been a mighty barrier to humans from time immemorial. Only its rims, never the gorge, show evidence of human occupation – not even by Ute Indians living in the area since written history began. No early Spanish explorers to the Southwest reported seeing the canyon. The expedition led by Capt. John W Gunnison bypassed the gorge in its search for a river crossing. The first written record came from the Hayden Expedition of 1873-1874. The Hayden and, later, Denver & Rio Grande Railroad survey parties deemed Black Canyon inaccessible.

The canyon was named “Black” because it is so deep, so sheer, and so narrow that very little sunlight can penetrate it. Early travelers found it shadow-shrouded and foreboding. By 1900 the nearby Uncompahgre Valley wanted river water for irrigation, so five residents hazarded an exploratory float of the river but gave up after a month. In 1901 Abraham Lincoln Fellows and William Torrence floated it on a rubber mattress – 33 miles in nine days – and said an irrigation tunnel was feasible. The 5.8 mile Gunnison Diversion Tunnel, begun in 1905 and dedicated in 1909, still delivers water for irrigation.

The park was proclaimed a national monument in 1933. Congress made it a national park in 1999, and the park now contains 14 miles of the canyon’s total 48 mile length.”

There was a little overlook right behind the visitor center so off we went:

WOW! The gorge is HUGE! Over 2000’ feet to the bottom. Here is a close up of an overlook with cars – can you see them?

Here is the picture without the zoom – you can barely see the vehicles:

Spires of hard rock – some well over 1000’ high:

And, yet, almost flat above the canyon:

We went back to the car and continued down the South Rim Road.

The rushing Gunnison River:

We did most of the overlooks and it gave a different perspective of the canyon. Here is Andy at Pulpit Rock:

The Painted Wall:

A short video of this area: http://youtu.be/jNn77rxJIXc

I love this picture:

We had lunch at a picnic table in the shade at the end of the south rim drive then headed back towards the Visitor Center.

The East Portal Road will take you down in the Canyon to the River and the Crystal Dam so we asked about it at the center. The road is 7 miles long (paved) but 5 of those miles are a 16% grade with switchbacks descending over 2000’ along the canyon wall.

So what the heck, let’s go. The road at the top:

Going down:

More videos of the way down:

http://youtu.be/4BR2zGDcbuA

http://youtu.be/hyzBVfoNn08

http://youtu.be/HRMeA0wuNuE

To the bottom where the river was really flowing:

Information on the town site – the only thing we found were some stone foundations:

The Diversion Tunnel Area:

“Irrigation water usually flows through the tunnel from April through October. Gravity causes the water to flow from West Portal through the South Canal to the Uncompahgre River. Like a central artery that branches out to capillaries, the river supplies six primary canals, such as the Montrose & Delta or Selig Canals. From these primary canals water flows into secondary ditches and eventually into farm fields.”

We continued down the road to Crystal Dam and WOW – lots of water flowing over the top.

“Crystal Dam is a unique structure – it curves from side to side and from top to bottom. It is 227 feet above the Gunnison River Streambed. This thin-arch, double-curvature design gives it exceptional strength. The free-form spillway is capable of releasing 42000 cubic feet of water per second.

Crystal Dam plus upstream Morrow Point and Blue Mesa Dams comprise the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project. Crystal serves as a regulating facility in this unit. Its six mile long reservoir catches fluctuating releases from Morrow Point Dam and smooth’s out the flows in the Gunnison River. The power plant at Crystal has one generating unit with a 31000 kilowatt capacity.”