Wandering Retirees

Lest night we headed to the South Rim of Dark Canyon for a Ranger Talk and to enjoy the sunset and do some star gazing in a truly dark sky.

We rented a car for the ride up because it promised to be very cold and windy along the canyon’s rim. We went with our new friends, Aaron and Bridget from Louisiana and had a wonderful time listening to a Ranger talk about bats. There are about 1500 species worldwide with nine species to be found in the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. The Ranger asked the group if anyone liked mosquitoes. After a unanimous “No,”, he told us that many species eat insects of all kinds, big Brown Bats will consume more than 500 mosquitoes per hour. You could sense the flying mammal’s popularity rising. The upshot is that they are important ecologically, they are endangered and need a little help to survive. Though we might not think of them often, we would miss them if they were gone. it was a fun and engaging talk.

Afterwards, we drove deeper into the park to get views of this awesome and virtually unknown gorge, stopping finally at a crowded Sunset View Scenic Overlook. We all loved the view and the sunset did not disappoint. Once the sun was fully down , we found ourselves totally alone as we waited a couple of hours for full dark. We had a great time talking with Aaron and Bridget, sharing stories of motorcycle rides and our families. Aaron is the principal owner of a family business making Andouille sausage close to New Orleans. Bridget is retired from the state office on Environmental Quality. Their daughter is taking over the day to day running of the business which allows the parents to scoot out on vacation. And they’re enjoying life very much.

Venus was the first light to shine in the evening sky, followed by the star, Vega. Over the next two hours the sky filled with lights and the awesome expanse of the Milky Way. We loved it. Then the hours caught up with us and we wound our way home through a pitch black night.

A suggestion for novice star gazers like us. Bring warm clothes and a find or make a comfortable place to sit. Maybe bring binoculars and use a phone app that identifies the objects in the night sky. We used an app called SkyView available from your favorite App Store. It makes it fun and more interesting. If you get hooked on astronomy, there are tons of equipment and gadgets available. For us, though, simple is plenty fine.

Today we slept in and took care of household chores, returned the vehicle, took a nap and had dinner with Aaron and Bridget. Tomorrow we’re on the road and lots of new sights.

Have a great night!