Those poor befuddled Austrian nuns obviously never tried turning their monastery into a winery and offering Maria some lovely Merlot. That idea was reserved by the Benedictine Fathers of Canyon City’s Holy Cross Abbey. When the abbey was closed, it’s halls became home to one of Colorado’s most popular wineries, The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. Last week, Bilbo and I dropped in to try the products of their vines, gaze at the gothic architecture, and pick up a few souvenirs.
The tasting room is open daily and offers a long list of free tastings and a smaller assortment of $1 reserve tastings. A very kind and knowledgeable barista offers valuable information and tasting instructions as she pours sample after sample into your glass. Our favorites were the Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, the Merlot Reserve, and the Port…and that is what we brought home with us. In honor of our new acquisition we had a wine and cheese dinner, with which the Sauvignon Blanc was delicious!
The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey was our only weekday expedition as we spent to rest of our days recovering from Quandary Peak and preparing for The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, where we spent the next weekend. The Black Canyon, inaccessible to humans for thousands of years, was formed by the rushing Gunnison River. The river’s booming water has carved a canyon 53 miles long, 2,722 feet deep (at its deepest point), and 40 feet wide (at its narrowest point). Its wonder has been admired and feared throughout history, but the Black Canyon of the Gunnison was not designated as a National Park until 1999. Since then 230,000 visitors per year have come to drive the rim road, hike the rim and the depths, and climb the cliffs. The park has two main areas, the North and South Rims, which are divided by the canyon itself.
Our first day at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison we drove along the South Rim, the main road in the park, stopping at vista points to take pictures and soak in the scenery. We had hoped to take a 1.5 mile hike into the canyon that day, but the Park Ranger strongly recommended that we skip it due to the morning’s rains. As he put it, “You would be stuck climbing back up a slippery, muddy mess for a mile and a half.” That didn’t put a damper on our trip, though, because there was plenty to be seen from up above.
A landmark within the park, the Painted Rocks overlook has a mythical touch. Can you tell what creature’s likeness has been formed by the rocks?
(It’s a dragon.)
To reach the north side of the park from the south, or vise versa, you must drive 90 miles around the canyon and through the surrounding towns. To give ourselves an edge for our morning hike along the North Vista Trail, we drove to the North Rim campground that night. In true Bauer fashion, we arrived just in time to claim the next-to-last available campsite and soon settled in. The night was cold, just above 30 degrees, and rain fell hard, but we stayed warm in our sleeping bags and sweats. The hard part was getting out of our sleeping bags in the frosty morning hours.
Thanks to a warming breakfast of oatmeal and tea, we were soon on our way to the 7 mile North Vista Trail. It has been listed among the best hikes in America by Backpackers Magazine, so we were very excited to give it a go. The hike begins at the North Rim Ranger Station, winds briefly through a grassy field, then brings you to the north side of the Painted Rocks. See the dragon again?
The trail continues a light 1.5 miles along the canyon rim to Exclamation Point, where you are rewarded with a birds-eye view into the depths. After the previous weekend’s jaunt up a fourteener, we were surprised at how quickly we glided over this trail!
There I am being an exclamation point by the Exclamation Point sign.
From the overlook a mere 2 miles stands between you and the summit of Green Mountain. The ascent is gradual, smooth, and seems to go by very quickly. We were quite jolly as we went on with ease towards the goal. So, so much easier than Quandary Peak!
The canyon kept sinking further and further below us as we went and soon the the Ranger Station where we began was nothing but a little dot.
That’s it in the dip between the trees. Can you see how tiny?! I know I’ve already said this—twice, I think—but we were amazed at how quickly we had reached this point! Quandary Peak took 5 hours to summit and 3 hours to descend. By this point we had only been hike about an hour and a half.
At almost 2 hours on the dot we reached the summit of Green Mountain. The trail made a loop around the top of the mountain to assure a full panoramic view of the canyon below and mountains beyond. In the last picture you can see a snow crusted range that blends in with the clouds—Bilbo’s favorite feature on the horizon.
On the way back to Pueblo we took a scenic byway that provided a glimpse of Grand Mesa, a drive through Grand Junction, and an unyielding supply of mountains and canyons. It took us quite a bit longer to arrive back at our humble abode this way, but the scenery made it worth while!
Thus ended our 6th weekend in Colorado and the first half of our Colorado adventures. We will celebrate the beginning of the second half with a few Colorado fall festivals, including the Chili Festival I was telling you about. More on that next time…
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