A distant view of Black Canyon from the North Vista Trail shows the 2,000-foot-deep gash carved over eons by the Gunnison River as it flows east and then turns south toward its eventual confluence with the Colorado River. This viewpoint is a 7-mile round-trip hike which I chose to tackle the afternoon I arrived -- after sitting behind the wheel in the truck for nearly four days. It was a sunny afternoon with temperatures in the upper 80s on a dusty trail. By the time I returned to the truck after shooting from the mountain-side and at Exclamation Point I was dehydrated and exhausted. Not the best way to start my Black Canyon experience, but the rest of the visit was much easier.
[3 captures blended with Helicon Focus for focus-stacking]