The Narrows: Nemesis of Early Explorers

This site is a scenic overlook with a historical plaque which is accessible from the South Rim Road in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Entry fee may apply.

The Narrows are the shallowest and narrowest point of the Black Canyon at 1750 feet deep. It is in this two-mile stretch of the canyon that elevation drops approximately 480 feet. Before the damming of the river upstream, the river would sometimes roar through the canyon at up to 12000 cubic feet per second and almost 2.75 million horsepower. It is the force of this water that has cut down into the ancient rock so much more quickly than other forces of erosion can widen the canyon. This accounts for the dramatic steepness of the canyon walls in Black Canyon.

It is almost unthinkable that men could survive such forces, but since the mid-1800s explorers have been attempting to discover the canyon floor of the Black Canyon. By the late 1800s it had become apparent that the resource of the Gunnison River would become a critical factor to survival for those who made their homes in the Uncompahgre Valley west of Black Canyon. But how could the water resources be tapped? If not for the daring and courage of a few explorers, what would the Uncompahgre Valley be like today?

On September 7th, 1853, Captain John Williams Gunnison's expedition recorded the first known description of the relatively tame section of the Black Canyon now known as Lake Fork. Captain Gunnison described the canyon as "a narrow and sinuous canyon, resembling a huge snake in motion." Although he believed it possible to build a railway through the canyon, Captain Gunnison described the country as "the roughest, most hilly and most cut up," he had ever seen.

A railway was built through a portion of the canyon as Captain Gunnison had suggested that it could be. The Durango and Rio Grande Narrow Gauge Railway, later dubbed "The Scenic Line of the World", was seeking a route to Salt Lake City. A rail grade was laid up to a natural break in the canyon walls at the location of present-day Cimarron. An expedition was needed to determine if the railroad could continue through the lower portion of the canyon or if the railway would have to exit the canyon and traverse Cerro Hill into nearby Montrose. Byron Bryant was hired to survey the canyon and make a recommendation. On December 12th, 1883, Bryant and his crew embarked upon their mission, expecting the survey to be complete within 20 days. The Bryant expedition encountered perilous conditions as the days turned into weeks, and when the crew took a break to relocate their camp all but three of the original crew quit. The expedition continued on through March and ultimately concluded that, due to the narrowing of the canyon downstream and the perils of the river, it would be financial suicide to attempt to continue the railway through the canyon.

Near the turn of the century, the people of the Uncompahgre Valley were suffering a shortage of irrigation water for their farms. The resource of the Gunnison River had long been considered the answer to their problems. But the Gunnison River was trapped in its course at the bottom of the Black Canyon and was seemingly inaccessible. The idea of a diversion tunnel came from local farmer and miner Frank Lauzon. This idea was popularized by local personality John Pelton, and by summer's end of 1900 the Pelton Expedition was organized to explore the feasibility of a diversion tunnel. The exploring party included John Curtis and E.B. Anderson from Delta; Frank Hovey, a rancher who ran cows on Coffee Pot Hill; and the superintendent of the Montrose Electric Light and Power Company, William Torrence from Montrose. The expedition fell on treacherous conditions, sinking both of their boats and facing the narrowing canyon walls and constant cascading rapids at The Narrows They abandoned their expedition and climbed to the canyon rim at an area which is now referred to as "Torrence Draw" just above the "Falls of Sorrow" where their last boat sank.

In summer of 1901 William Torrence returned to the Black Canyon with engineer Abraham Lincoln Fellows. The two-man team had abandoned the idea of boats and acquired an inflatable rubber air mattress with which they intended to float the river and look for possible locations for a diversion tunnel. On August 12th, 1901 they set out on their journey. They made their way rapidly down the river, but "easy walking was never to be found". After two nights in the canyon they faced the narrows where the canyon walls squeeze to a mere 40 feet at the canyon floor. This was the exact spot the previous mission had been abandoned. Fellows later wrote, "When about noon, we reached the mighty jaws past which there was to be no escape, a feeling of nervousness and dread came over me for the first time. Right then I made the only discouraging speech that was made during the entire trip, and I said to Torrence. 'Will, your last chance to go out is to the right. You can make it there if you wish, but if we cross the river at this point there can be no return; we must go on.'" Those words, by Abraham Lincoln Fellows, revealed feelings of awe and respect for a place that tested his mettle and challenged his courage. Remarked Torrence, "At the 'Narrows' the fun began. The canyon is full of great boulders, which form bridges across the stream. Over these we must scramble, one getting on top and pulling the other up. These rocks were slick as grease, and hard to climb. We spent a day in going a quarter of a mile." They traveled downstream constantly in and out of the chilling water until they were located below what today we can see from Chasm View. "For ages masses of black rock had been falling from above, and in this narrow part had got wedged between the walls of the canyon, forming a tunnel through which the river rushed in a winding course at terrific speed. Mass after mass had fallen until above the tunnel rose a great volume of rock. The most likely thing was that [we] would be sucked down into the maelstrom, or dashed to pieces against the rocky walls." (William Torrence) In the end, they were successful in traversing the canyon and, more importantly, they determined that a tunnel was in fact feasible. Based on their exploration and two years of subsequent surveying by Fellows and his crew, the Gunnison Diversion Tunnel began construction in 1905. Looking back on the hardships of their journey, Fellows remarked, "I think now of the prosperous towns in the Uncompahgre Valley, and I am proud to have been a part of making this all happen."

To claim this cache you must answer the following question which is addressed at the signage at Chasm View:
As stated in the above narrative the bottom of the canyon at The Narrows squeezes to a mere 40 feet wide. According to the sign at the coordinates, how wide are The Narrows at the canyon rim?