Just around a bend in the Gunnison River from the famous Painted Wall formation — and really, a part of it — resides this softly sunlight-spotlit, inverted chevron of resistant gneiss and schist, shot through by pegmatite veins. These patterns are just like much of the other walls in the region, with the same water-driven origin, cut about an inch deeper per year. Yes, those are mature trees clinging to a ledge at upper left! Roughly 2,000 feet of vertical distance are spanned in this view, truncated just below the canyon rim. Black Canyon truly is one of the world’s great gorges and natural wonders, alongside Grand Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon, Royal Gorge, and the Rio Grande Gorge; no part of the world has more massive canyons on different rivers than the western U.S.
11 NE Montrose, CO (13 Jul 26) Looking N
38.5811, -107.7183