We “scored” a one night permit to the Red Rock Canyon section of the Gunnison, a world-class fishery near Montrose CO, accessible only by an eight-mile hike on a sparsely-marked trail. Not as deep as the Black Canyon, it’s no less scenic. We camped under the stars. Norm and a father/son duo were the only people in the canyon. The father and son had a big day fishing (I lost but saw some beautiful fish, and realized why the area is only permit accessible, despite the hike). Norm turned out to be one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. More about him below. Next trip will involve rafting and fishing the Gunnison, another river we’ve grown to love. The hike into Red Rock Canyon and out was a proper warm-up for our third trip into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This time, we invited Karen’s niece, Carolyn, who had recently taken a job near Boulder. The descent into the Black Canyon is unmarked and grueling. The heat forced us to re-evaluate our plans and turn it into a day hike. Loaded backpacks were just out of the question. The descent went as expected, but the ascent took nearly twice as long as usual. There are parts that require class 3 climbing. We made it back to camp in darkness.
We saw Norm at the trailhead, but because of his rather junky-looking, home-made motorized bike and trailer, we honestly wrote him off as some homeless kook. We couldn’t have been further from the truth. After we made our way down into the canyon, he suddenly appeared, and promptly began unloading his pack. Turns out that Norm was about to launch his packraft down the Gunnison Gorge and do some camping and fishing all by himself in a remote and inaccessible canyon. Also turns out the Norm had done this before: spotted his vehicle at a take-out downstream and ridden his bike 35 miles to the trailhead, albeit aided by a kit that included a weedwacker motor and flywheel! Turns out that Norm, probably in his late 70s or early 80s, was an expert fly fisherman, and he told us when he retired after a fulfilling career as an engineer, instead of moving to Florida like everyone else, he decided to follow his passion — rivers— and move to Durango. I think this video tells the story best.
Travels with Pops 