Colorado Day 7

A rookie mistake- I failed to get online before the campground office closed, so day 7 blog is late.
Have you heard of Black Canyon National Park? Nether did we. What a great secret. The canyon is dark, craggy and immense. And what do you know? I learned something. Pegatites are sections of igneous rock that cool harder than the rock around them, so as the canyon sides decay, the pegatite sections remain as fingers jutting up the sides. Very cool! Also the North side deteriorates faster, as it gets less sun in the winter, as ice cracks the rocks more than the sunny side. This is one immense canyon- the sides as high as 2,700 feet. The length is quite shorter than the Grand Canyon, punishing it to relative obscurity.
And, my biker trash friends, the East Portal is a rapidly descending 16% road that winds down to the river. It could lead the Western United States for awesome twisties if the road wasn’t so rough. Uphill proved to be much more fun, as you can power up to a corner, roll the throttle and easily scrub speed. Whereas downhill, it feels like you could break loose any time and fall to your death. Ask the Little woman. The nice Smoky the Bear Ranger strongly suggested we leave the trailer for this jaunt. Great advice!
On the road again, the hills are rounded and covered with scrub, and sections of trees give the landscape a Holstein look. Climbing higher, the trees disappear, then for some reason reappear in force above 9,000 feet. The highest pass today boasted an elevation of 11,312 feet. Wow! Plenty of snow and cool temps. We wound down to the East side of the Great Divide. Great indeed! Not to mention warmer.
One more day, one more adventure.