Summer Vacation 2014: Ouray, Montrose, & Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park: Day 9!!!

We took a long drive today, to visit some familiar sights, and completely new ones as well! Our drive up 550 takes us to some of the most beautiful land, you'll ever see. When we got to Ouray, I took pictures of some of the town buildings, because they're just awesome looking, and that's what I do. We then continued on to Ridgway, and Montrose. Montrose is a cool town, and we never really stopped there until today. The agriculture out there is amazing. Farms and ranches as far as the eyes can see, with the picturesque backdrop, of the San Juan mountain ranges, placed thoughtfully in the background. So beautiful. We also saw the old train depot there in town. We went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park today...and what an unbelievable sight! The park is about 8000 ft, up at the top, and when we got close to the river, we had to drive on a 16%, downhill grade, to get to it. That's about a 2000 ft drop in elevation, quickly. Up on the top, looking over the canyon, the granite vertical walls, and steep direct drop off to the river below, made us all feel dizzy, and unstable. It was insane, and so cool! Hello vertigo! But the views...the views were breathtaking. I had no idea there was a national park outside of Montrose. We spent a lot of time there, exploring the lookouts and all. We then took our hwy 550 drive home, to our wonderful trailer. Another awesome experience, and full day!