Morrow Reservoir

THE RAPIDS!!!!!

OK, so they don't look like much. But when you're novice canoe handlers, and you realize that you are heading into them sideways, they look HUGE!!!!! That I panicked is a given (especially for those who know me and my love of the water well!)...but that Nick was starting to panic made me almost have a heart attack later when I found out. Apparently he was trying to decide if he should save me or the camping gear when we went down...!!!! Fortunately I had on my trusty old PFD (for those of you who aren't familiar with nautical terms, this is a Personal Floatation Device - learn something new every day on this blog, eh?)... I won't step foot inside the canoe without it..so the end result was that Nick was going after the camping gear!!!

Fortunately, we managed to pull ourselves around and straighten up; and a little further down the lake it was all smiles and easy sailing!!!

The rapids are caused by the water being released from the Blue Mesa dam. We were supposed to be leaving early to try and reach them before the water was released, when they would have been virtually non existent...however, breakfast at the Sunshine Deli seemed like a much better idea at 7.30 on a Friday morning...and luckily we didn't regret our decision too much!

The Canyon that houses the reservoir is the start of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The walls aren't as high or as sheer as further west, but they are still pretty impressive in places. The waterfall was a good landing spot to try some fishing and get some water before we set off further down the canyon...

We didn't even see the first back country camp spot, and then the next few were occupied, so we kept on paddling. It was so peaceful. All you could hear was the sound of the paddles, birds flying overhead and the slapping of the trout Nick couldn't catch as they taunted him by jumping out of the water...oh yeah, and Nick and I yelling at each other as we were both trying to be captain and give directions....gotta remember that rule we set ourselves for when we learn to sail...Julie barks the orders on odd days, Nick is in charge on even days...I get more that way, since there are more odd days than even days!

We eventually found the next camp site, and were glad we had waited - it was perfect! The cliffs rose behind it and a creek rushed down to the lake.

There was a very professionally built fire ring and a great landing spot for the canoe. It was a trifle small, but then, in the scheme of things, so are we, so it worked great. The views were good too.

The fire worked great. We had had rain earlier in the evening and thought that the driftwood we had collected might be a bit too wet to burn, but we managed to get it going, and the ring was so well built that the breeze blowing through the canyon helped stoke it and keep it going.

The next morning, once I got up (!), we paddled back to Curecanti Creek.

We had decided to hike up to the top of the canyon with the back pack so we could lighten the canoe for the trip back in case the current was flowing fast. The hike up was about two miles, so not far at all, and it gave some great views of the canyon and the Curecanti Needle.

(My obsessive reading of historic markers told me that the Curecanti Needle was the first emblem of the Denver and Rio Grande Railways, and that they had chosen it as one of the first railway lines west was routed the the canyon...see, they are worth reading...).

The water flow on the way back after that did get faster (against us of course). And we eventually had to admit defeat (on both the fish catching stuff..sorry Nick...and the paddling back towards the dam stuff...).

So a mile from where we put in, we had to haul the canoe out. I leant over and almost put us in the water again (oops doesn't really cut it, does it?!)... and Nick then carried the 80 lb canoe back... back to the 300 or so steps that he had hauled it down the day before...and now had to haul it back up again to get us out of the canyon...

Needless to say he was a little sore the next day...but he didn't get the hernia or burst the blood vessel that I thought he would!

And of course we celebrated our first successful canoe/back country trip in style with a burger and beer at The Steep that night!!!