Vandrea Does America: Day 88 (Sunday 9/16/12)- Black Canyon Park, CO

Our objective in the town of Telluride was to travel on their free gondola system. The only one like it in the country, the public transit connects the cities of Telluride and Mountain Village, which are otherwise separated by mountains. It is open year round and supported solely by taxes and donations.
On this weekend Telluride was also hosting it's annual Blues and Brews festival which brings people from the literal Four Corners to get drunk and listen to music. The B-52's headlining a bill at $320 was well beyond our means (even if during "Rock Lobster" they served lobster, it would still be a rip off) A much more affordable option was enjoying the festival's after effects.

On the gondola ride we had the pleasurable misfortune of riding with several severely hung over concert goers, one in particular was especially concerned with the height and speed (about 8 mph) and jostling of the ride which led us all to regret not having arranged for her to have a window seat.

Riding a gondola satisfied one long held dream. To have another met in the same day was amazing. In Mountain Village, between overpriced shops, was a climbing rock in the middle of town. This rock I felt I could climb without Isaiah teasing me as there were no children around to smoke me with scaling speeds I am far from capable of. (We have come across several climbing opportunities but they were all designed for people with either skill or baby teeth and so would be, either way, embarrassing to attempt).

The road next led us to Black Canyon National Park which in combination of deepness, steepness and narrowness is North America's preeminent example. The first exploration of the canyon involved a group of over eager volunteers and two wooden boats, one of which didn't last the first day. The whole mission lasted little longer. Undaunted the adventurers regrouped and decided the problem was not the 95 mph river or the narrow and murderous canyon walls, but their boats. The proposed improvement to their already insane plan- inflatable mattresses. Somehow they worked. And great that they did as the Black Canyon is something to see.

Evening meant the town of Grand Junction which has a great consignment store and nothing else worth mentioning.