Wild Country: Our National Parks

 

Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed. We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, as part of the geography of hope. 

Wallace Stegner, The Sound of Mountain Water

The quote above was on a sign at the last overlook we visited at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. 

HOPE ... it's something that we could all use in today's world. We are increasingly bombarded with disagreement - whether it's on the Senate floor ... or in our local communities ... or on the inevitable Facebook, Instagram or X scroll.

Even before the government shutdown, it's been a tough year for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The South Rim Fire started on July 10, 2025, due to dry lightning in the canyon leading to the park's closure and visitor evacuations. While the fire was significantly contained as of mid-August, the South Rim and East Portal campgrounds and parts of the South Rim road remained closed to allow for recovery and ensure visitor safety from hazards like flash flooding and falling trees. It burned 4,000 acres. 

The South Rim Visitors Center reopened on August 18.

But, after the government shutdown in early October, the doors were again locked at the visitors centers and there was this sign:

During this lapse in appropriations, national parks will remain as accessible as possible. We are doing our best to take care of your parks at this time, but some amenities and services may not be available.  

Thankfully, the National Park Department didn't barricade the roads or the overlooks. So we were able to see another of our nation's parks during our Colorado trip.

Still, the evidence of the wildfires was apparent - even at our very first stop. 

 

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but if you look closely, you might see a little green peeking through the charred earth as the earth begins to rebound and recover. It reminded me of pasture fires here in Kansas. The old growth is burned off so that new green grass sprouts. 

So, HOPE ... even in less-than-ideal conditions. The craggy rock formations were also a reminder of harsh conditions. 

 

Black Canyon of the Gunnison lies on the eastern edge of the Colorado Plateau,  a region spanning Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. 

 

It's a region well known for its natural features, plateaus, buttes, deep canyons and colorful rock layers. It is also adjacent to the Southern Rocky Mountains.

 

Black Canyon is the result of multiple episodes of uplift and erosion and the carving power of the Gunnison River. The canyon displays a wide variety of rock types - including igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. 

 

Black Canyon exposes nearly two billion year old Precambrian "basement rocks." Deposition, uplift and erosion are the key factors that created the canyon seen today. Black Canyon's greatest depth is 2,722 feet. The narrowest width is 40 feet at the river. 

We were amused by this sign at a trailhead. 

We weren't tempted to try it anyway, but note the last line:

Remember: Hiking down is optional; hiking back up is mandatory.  

Another of the overlook markers talked about being "perched on the edge of the untrammeled." 

We were glad not to do any extensive "trammeling." It looked pretty treacherous to us.

 

We are perched on the edge of the untrammeled - a place where human impact is limited. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness is just below you. Small towns, limited industry and open skies have left the total view untouched. The works of our own hands are few. Here Earth is alive. Yet we can still harm lands without and outside designated Wilderness. Most of this view is unprotected. Still, we can be part of his living world. Wilderness is preserved as much in our hearts as on the land itself. 

We saw "wilderness" of a different kind at another national park - the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We were very surprised to find the Visitors Center and campgrounds open there, with park rangers available. We're not sure why those rangers were at work during the government shutdown, but we were thankful for their presence. We appreciated the opportunity to see the visitors center there, along with an an informative film about the dunes. 

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve protects the tallest dunes in North America. 

 

 

 The park contains ecosystems ranging from mountains to grasslands to wetlands to forest to tundra. 

During a wetter time thousands of years ago, ancient lakes covered much of the valley floor. Streams carried eroded sediments from the San Juan Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains into these lakes. Over time, a thick layer of sand was deposited at the bottom of these lakes.

 

Through natural climate change, the lakes have largely diminished, leaving a vast sheet of sand on the valley floor. Predominate winds from the southwest funnel sand into a low curve of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Storm winds push sand back, forming the tall dune field.  

The Great Sand Dunes National Preserve covers approximately 44,661 acres. 

Advice from Great Sand Dunes:

Be ready for adventure.

Cherish wild spaces.

Embrace winds of change.

Spend time outdoors.

Keep a sense of wonder.

Don't get carried away.

Stay loose.  

 

Postcard from the visitors' center