Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park - part 2

After visiting the south rim, we decided to drive down to the river level at the East Portal. 

The East Portal is actually just outside the National Park, in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. There is a small dam here to allow supply to the Gunnison Tunnel; the floats in the water provide caution to anyone in the river of the upcoming dam.

Looking upstream

There was a nice shelter with picnic tables at the East Portal where we enjoyed the lunch we had brought along.

We decided to drive to the end of the road at the East Portal... 

... this is looking back at the road from the end. Beyond the end of the road is Crystal Dam, whose primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Dam).

When we drove back to the East Portal area, we noticed some information boards. I had read about an irrigation tunnel that was built from here, so we stopped to read the boards...

Fascinating history about the building of the tunnel can be found here: https://www.nps.gov/articles/colorado-gunnison-tunnel.htm

The Jee-rage at East Portal

A view of the river beyond the dam

We were on our way back -- driving back up the curvy road from East Portal through the Entrance Station...

View as we were driving down from the park to the Uncompahgre Valley

"Snake in the road!"

We had noticed this impressive entrance gateway to a private property as we were driving over to the National Park -- Blue Creek Ranch. It evidently was offered for sale and sold recently (check out the video at https://americanfarmandranch.com/property/blue-creek-ranch). (I guess this is info about the sale to a Texan in 2021: https://www.gunnisontimes.com/articles/oil-tycoon-spends-millions-on-gunnison-county-ranch/ -- I guess we missed out on getting it!)

Even though we had difficulty finding parking at some spots in the park, we enjoyed our visit to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park!

 

Additional update regarding wildfire activity at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park -- an update from the InciWeb site later on Sunday, 7/13:

Fire environment is conducive for large fire growth. Live and dead fuels are very dry and available on all aspects at all elevations and supporting fire spread day and night. Resistance to control is high. Large fire growth threatening incident's highly valued resources and assets. Impacts from fire behavior are expected to continue for several weeks if no monsoon season ending event occurs. The fire is active with torching, spotting, and wind-driven runs.

From what I can gather, there is a lot of emphasis to prevent the fire from reaching Crystal Dam and the power lines. 

In addition,  

From the Curecanti National Recreation Area:

Beginning today, July 13, at 3:01pm, Blue Mesa Reservoir west of the Middle Bridge will be closed to all boating activities, both motorized and non-motorized until further notice. This closure is to allow firefighting aircraft use of the reservoir to support firefighting operations of the South Rim Fire. The closure is intended to provide for aircraft and boater safety while aircraft are filling from the reservoir. The Lake Fork boat ramp will be closed for the duration of the closure; launching will remain available at Elk Creek and Iola. 

The South Rim Fire is a wildland fire that originated in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on July 10 and is currently 3,556 acres in size. Aircraft supporting firefighters on the incident will be using Blue Mesa to refill buckets and tanks to aid in the firefighting effort.

We have been camping above Blue Mesa Reservoir. We heard aircraft Sunday afternoon, but didn't know of the use of the water from the reservoir for the firefighting aircraft until night. We leave the area here by Blue Mesa today, Monday, July 14. 

You may have also seen news about two fires burning out of control on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. All of these fires appear to have been started by lightning strikes -- the ones at the Grand Canyon on July 4, the one at Black Canyon of the Gunnison on July 10. We are praying for the safety of the firefighters and that there might be a weather event (monsoon rain) that will help to stop these fires.