The Gunnison Hike

I arrive at the visitor center at 7:30, 30 minutes before opening.  I'm first in line for the few remaining wilderness permits and am soon joined by a couple from Spain and 3 guys from Kansas City.  Soon, a woman opened the door and gave us information about the inner canyon hikes, of which there are three.

At 8am, the doors opened and I filled out a card with all relevant info, then given an orientation speech which was helpful and advised to take images from a book....

...which I did as they showed a couple of tricky parts of the route where it would be easy to get off route.  The ranger repeatedly stated there are no trail markings, nothing to guide you but I suspected, if there are as many as 15 people a day hiking the route, it wouldn't be all that difficult to follow.

I begin with a pleasant walk among trees.  The temperature is in the low 60's at this 8200' elevation.  I'll drop almost 2000' in a little over a mile.

I had read about this section, having a very, very long chain to assist.

Yikes, is this steep.  It had plenty of foot holds so wasn't all that bad.

Some great views as I descend.  I wished I had taken more images but frankly, with the slope being so steep and the footing horrible, there weren't many places I could balance to take an image.

Note the scree and rock filled slope.  Most of the trail was precarious with very, very loose footing.  Several times I simply dropped on my rear and scooted down or crab walked.  The average grade is 33.4% and when you add in the surface challenge, it's a brutal hike.  However, while I slipped at times, I never fell.

Nearing the bottom, I get a good look at the bottom of the canyon

It's a beautiful location with a trail going up and down the river.  Fishing is allowed.

I always enjoy looking up while so many never have the experience as they look down from the rim overlooks.

There was even a pit toilet and....

...a couple of camps sites.  But, this is the rare hike where it's not the destination that brings people, it's to test oneself on the rim to river route.  I did not spend much time at the bottom and began....

....the slippery and steep ascent.  It took me a 1:15 to go down and a little over an hour to go up.  Glad I did it but I'd never do it gain, lol. On the drive out, Amy....

...took a picture of this fine wood carving.