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Black Canyon of the Gunnison notes

2K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  st2eelpot 
#1 ·
Ran it this week.

Poison Ivy doesn't seem bad this season (compared to how much everyone talked about it). Still, I do recommend the painter-suit from the hardware store to do the portage.

There was only one rapid/sieve/rock pile chocked full of trees. Looks like it's normally runable but is not currently. It was near Triple Drop.

Aside from the portages listed in the books (2/3 of mile portage on river right, ferry to river left at cave camp, portage on left for short duration, cross to river right, portage on river right to beach camp), everything else runs clean.

I have much more detailed notes if anyone is thinking about going in anytime soon.

Cheers,
Dave
 
#2 ·
Thanks for the update. I'm thinking of putting a trip together for this weekend or the following.

There has been some concern among Black veterans (i am not one) that there would be lots of changes in there this year. It sounds like not so much. Was this your first time down?
 
#3 ·
Yes, this was my first time to run it. My partner had also never run it before. We were supposed to run it with someone who knows the run, but he crashed his motorcycle the night before (bummer). Fortunately, he's okay.

At any rate, since we were both first-timers in there, I can't give you any notes about how it's changed from previous years.

Word around the campfire is we were the second party down this year, though I have nothing to confirm this.

Cheers!
Dave
 
#5 ·
Gunny Gorge

Since we were hitchhiking to get back to East Portal, where our car was at the put in, we boated down the Gunny Gorge where we'd find more traffic on highway 92. It was only about 2 hours more of paddling, and was a really nice, relaxing finish to the trip. I highly recommend it.

That being said, we did ask a commercial trip that was putting in at the beginning of the Gunny about the Chukar trail hike. They said it was about 1.1 miles from the river to the parking lot, but that hitchhiking from there wouldn't happen. Plus, I think it's a 7 mile gravel road to that parking lot from a main road? Dunno exactly, but it's something like that.

As far as a shuttle service from the end of Gunny Gorge to the East Portal, there is a guy at the finish named Leroy who will do it. However, pre-arrange it, as when I showed up, sans vehicle, he was going to charge us about $350 just to drive us to the put in of the Gunny (the Chukar trail). If we had had our own vehicle and were about to run shuttle, they'd help do it for something closer to $100. Hitchng went really well for us, was free, and took less time than Leroy quoted.

Cheers,
Dave
 
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