High Passes and Flat Plains

We headed North to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison - billed as yet another 'pocket-sized' Grand Canyon. The weather was unusually poor, so we stayed a night on the rim and explored a couple of the trails the next day.

We drove on East and North through Colorado, stopping in various creek-side camping spots and the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Being early in the season, the campgrounds and roads within the park were mostly closed, but the wildlife was prolific and we spotted deer, elk, moose and pronghorn antelope along the way.

We drove over several 11,000ft passes marking the continental divide and this year's late snowmelt continued to prevent much walking and exploring, but made for beautiful alpine views.

With no long walks and plenty of time around the campsites, the girls tried to put their new-found knowledge of the Navajo into practice by making a skipping rope-and-stick bow and arrow. It was somewhat ineffective, but Tony called his whittling and binding skills into action to produce an almost authentic and certainly more effective version.

We left Colorado yesterday, through the scenic Poudre River Valley and up through the flatter grasslands of East Wyoming. Today we will head into South Dakota to spend some time in the Black Hills and Badlands before turning West again for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. By way of background reasearch, Francesca is reading Little House on the Prairie and we are hunting down a copy of Calamity Jane.