So much so, in fact, I decided while going to sleep I'd make today a race. For the most part, I take my time when traveling. If I don't enjoy myself on this trip, there's no point in it. But I want to get out of this state so badly, I decide to do my best to get out by the end of today. So I swiftly start my day headed for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
The place is 2 hours away though, so it takes me a while to get there. On the way, I look up at the sky. It's a beautiful, blue, sunshiny day. The roads aren't frosted with snow or ice. I'd almost call it pleasant if I didn't know I was in Colorado. So I think to myself...maybe it's not your fault Colorado. Maybe it's not your fault you were placed at a latitude of 39 degrees North: the early settlers designated that your domain. And it's not your fault half of you is full of high elevation mountains: the Earth's magma just felt the need to erupt a little more in that area. And your drivers are assholes just because...well, they're really just assholes, but that's not your fault Colorado, they're the ones who need to practice better self-control. So Colorado, I'm sorry I've been so hard on you. Maybe you're an alright state after all.
So for the next 2 hours, I enjoy Colorado's sunshiny weather until I arrive at my destination.
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison gets its name because the river in the canyon is the Gunnison River and the walls are so steep that sunlight rarely gets into them, making them often look black. The pictures I took of the canyon don't do it justice: it's hard to grasp the depth and height of the canyon without seeing it in real life.
The trail I took was very easy and straight forward. The ranger stated all the trails going into the actual canyon would be iced over and suggested not taking them; seeing how far down a fall into the canyon can be, I decide to take her advice but still get some okay pictures.
Making good time, I head southwest to Mesa Verde National Park. The drive to Mesa Verde is 3 hours of all mountains with nearly no places to stop; it's very long, very pretty, and very boring (that's what she said).
Mesa Verde park is very different from most National Parks; it doesn't really have any trails or wildlife worth seeing. Instead, it's the preserved historical grounds of the ancient Anasazi people who built their structures into the cliffs. There are exhibits and a tour though, so it feels more like the world's most interactive essay of the Anasazi people rather than a National Park. Arriving, I waste about 3 minutes figuring out exactly what I want to do since there's no one at the gate. I decide to go to the Visitors Center and find out I'm about 3 minutes late for the last tour: it happens.
I find out the best visitation points I can get to in the park are 45 minutes away. I'm not even sure if I have enough gas to go 45 minutes and back; how big is this park? GPS says the nearest gas station is 25 minutes away, yet I see one right across the street: stupid GPS. I go to the station and attempt to run the pumps. I can't figure out how to and have to leave: stupid Kobie.
Not having 50 free minutes to get gas, I'd rather just take the risk. It's worth it, because I find out 45 minutes in a National Park doesn't mean about 45 miles straight out as I thought, it means 45 minutes of back and forth roads at 25 miles an hour. If I've gotta go through 45 minutes of zigzagging to get from the front end of the park to a destination on the back end, maybe you should build an entrance at the back end.
There's a museum that holds your normal museum stuff (artifacts, diaramas) and then a circular drive that takes you to spots where you can see the Anisazi living areas.
Those areas are pointed out on the drive, but it doesn't take long to look around on your own and see more remnants of the Anasazi people.
The Anasazi used holes in the cliff walls to climb up and down different levels of the cliffs...
...so when a couple touring beside me point out a ladder and stairs, they agree they're probably not original.
The Anisazi are a good example of humanity progressing: their older buildings are made purely of mud, but the newer ones are made of bricks and mortar; during their existence, they advanced to masonry.
There are some exhibits that show the remains of Anisazi buildings up close.
Some of them just look like mud and sticks, but here's one that was particularly interesting:
You can see the remaining foundations of different shaped buildings. According to archaeologists, there were 3 villages that lived on this same area. After one fell down (for any given reason), another was made...and then it happened again. Both times, the new village left the bases of the previous village, but didn't use them. This makes the Anasazi the most confusedly lazy peoples I know: they were too lazy to remove the old stones but weren't lazy enough to use them either.
By the time I'm done with Mesa Verde, my last destination in Colorado, 4 Corners Monument, is closed (only 1/4th in Colorado technically). There's not an interstate within 4 hours of me in all directions. There's a Rest Area, but it doesn't allow overnight parking (a first for me), but there's a Walmart near by. I eat at a local Chinese joint with good reviews. One of them states there's a man working there that gets mad if you don't order fast enough though: it's true, I get him as a waiter. As he walks by one time, I look up and he spots me...
"Are you ready to order yet?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you!"
He then leaves before coming back several minutes later to take my order. Really awesome food though...
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