Canyoning in the Colorado San Juan Mountains

Book excerpt: Canyoning is the sport of descending narrow canyon gorges, which have flowing water and rappelling through waterfalls. The canyons of the San Juan and West Elk Mountains in Colorado carve through colorful sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock layers with an active volcanic geologic history. This guidebook explores technical descents of the waterfalls and narrows found in these spectacular mountain ranges surrounding iconic Colorado mountain towns including Ouray, Silverton, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Telluride, Marble, Lake City and Creede along the Silver Thread Byway. Once an oasis for the Utes, and later a center of silver and gold mining, the San Juan Mountains have become a destination for outdoor recreation. This guide offers a detailed introduction to these special canyons along with historical, ecological and geological information for the area as well as ethics and safety considerations for the sport. In addition to new canyon descents, this book contains updated information on classic Ouray and Silverton canyon routes, with new details about exits and anchors.