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<br />ADVEI
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<br />Floating the. Gunnison
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<br />
<br />STORIES AND PHOTOS
<br />BY CHARLIE MEYERS
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<br />In tht' splendor of early mormng, spider
<br />webs glisten on low pInon limbs. A sharp
<br />call splits the air and. three feathl.'red ob-
<br />Jecl<; scurry sWiftly wto the brush on a
<br />stl'{'P slope across a sIde canyon. The
<br />('hukar trail, access pomt for fishermen and
<br />hoat{'rs floating the Gunnison RIver Gorge, is
<br />aptly named; the rpeluslve game birds seem
<br />to be t'vcrywh(,l"e.
<br />Farther down this nule.long path on which
<br />harM'S lram;port nlfts and supplies for the 14.
<br />lllllt' rlln down to thl' confluence with the
<br />:\'ortn Fork, the hrst sounds qf rushing water
<br />eorne up to meet us. Around a sharp bend
<br />wht'n' milit'rmlums of water have sculpted
<br />roek wilh lIt't'P swirls, we find Ult' river. Even
<br />though I had bt.>cn there five years before,
<br />again I am struck with awe.
<br />The span of the Gunnison River immedJate-
<br />Iy below Black Canyon ~ational Monument is
<br />a wonder of the fishIng world, a combination
<br />of uncommon scenery, outstanding fIshing and
<br />whlte,walerrapids.
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<br />"This is an absolute tn'asun" a sacred (ish-
<br />U1g place," exclaimed Bill ~Icrkle, a surgt'on
<br />from Grand Junction who, with companion
<br />H;lln1 Brown, abandom'd their usual summer
<br />Inp to \Iontana to sample a jewel closer to
<br />rlOme.
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<br />UnUunkablt' Just a few short years ago. the
<br />1t'eJsioll now makes rwrfect ~'nse. Compared
<br />to lht, Wild beauty of thl' GUnnison. the ,\Iadi.
<br />.;on H.lvt'r is an eyesore, the Big Horn a blight
<br />:10 tht, landscapt..', the Yellowstone a tl'Clium.
<br />fo find its ('qualm beauty and fishing excel.
<br />lence, one must Journey to the lush coaslal
<br />;,1reams of the Pacific NorUlwest. Should any-
<br />one think these claims extravagant, they need
<br />only to climb into a raft, take fishing rod In
<br />hand and sample for themselves.
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<br />Breakfast on the river begins with a pan 01
<br />eggs Irom guide Stan Ferris.
<br />The Gunnison Gorge, an only slightly less
<br />spectacular extension of the Black Canyon, is
<br />the product of a cataclysmic series of uplifts,
<br />sedimentations, eruptions and, hnally, ero.
<br />sions nearly as old as the earUI itself. As he
<br />pulls oars against the current, fishing guide
<br />lIank. lIotze, a seat-of.the'pants geologist, cat.'
<br />alogs the striations of rock. ,.._
<br />"This canyon ls never the same. There's a ~
<br />different view at every turn of the nver, every
<br />hour ot the day," says Hotze, who began Gun-....
<br />nison River Expeditions in 1981 and has work-
<br />ed tirelessly to saw It from that bane of all
<br />great fishing rivers, overaffection.
<br />It takes no time at all to understand Hotze's
<br />dilemma. The first fish of the morning is an
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<br />To fish or ogle the sCtl!rie~y? That is the dilemma of the Gunnison Gorge.
<br />1 .. 'i -.':''':' .;......
<br />: 18.inch'rainbow of 'about three pou;ds that is tiii'<l from the tu~>ing.
<br />leaps wild!y in the s'Nift c.'UlTent, ripping lirie . On a cloudless night without the di:.1raclion
<br />from the reeL Later, at a place whpre a su.ep ofarlihciaJ.light, stars that seem to blaze
<br />orne tumbles into a dark pool agairu.1 a ~r .rather lban~willkle fill the sky, wall to wall. In
<br />rock wau.\f1vecasts produC'C four trout, two or a lent pitcht!<t on soft sand, sleep comes with
<br />them' Uliek-bodied rainbows that put a deep lhe.j:sound of the river and trout spla..tJing
<br />arch into a, ~ven-\o\.'eight fly rod. thrtiYgh my mmd._ ) I
<br />In aU.likelihood, there are more stnkes ~"i:;,~". _ .
<br />missed on -thf IO'-\t'r GWUllson than any com- ,~ag?tf".lo rejoin the orgy of the pre\'io~ l!i
<br />parable- "t~,am'l[L the world. Concentration e~erung,'i~\o\.'o hsher(Jlpn arc up well bekln' "
<br />wanMr.stonstanUy as the panorama slides breakfas~ Wi~~.the smell or baton, tht.'Y re. I
<br />past. 111gb above.therim, a golden eagle turns turn Wllh1l.report. of perfect water but no fL~h
<br /><!Jld turns.lhe9:C1b'8~arsbeyond the edge. A T~f Tr!Js~rY')s.~I~ed by someone who arose
<br />canyon wren tnns'menily as it nils among, d~ep UUh~ 111gbt and heard sounds of fish
<br />lhe streamside boulders and the omnipresent slurping In the shallo\o\. s The frolic rt.'~umes
<br />chukar partridges break from cover just qUlc~y.and,. ~arther downstream In a cathe-
<br />ahead of tbe rafr, Scrambling,ever uphill.' .... dr~.sett.1ng w~t:re rock walls narrow t~ pmch
<br />Irresistibly, the fishing draws me back. On rher()n~t~ Sid(!$', trout seem larger still.
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<br />a reach .~'here brown trout-:,from. ~!e t.o 15 "~,,\~,mt: jn~\'itably. the canyon slowly mt'lts
<br />mehes lOng seem thicker than stones, a ~Irdle. 3:"'a):")oto it, ~ro'<l.d valley' with dry, rolling
<br />~~g, tha! mO~1 ga~.~nd.lm~ro~ab~ o.r a.rtifI~'~ hillS.._9!lt,~ngl~f'S: Gunnison journal is'done: I
<br />l,;lal flies, attracts a floSh With e4l.ch<CClSlplaCed-l,;;iBul the legend ofagreatflshing river has onlv'
<br />close to shore. At da>"s end, an angler's arm begun. .
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<br />The Denver Post/Thursday, August 20, 1987
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