Crested Beauty

On top of one of the dunes, a girl from Denver suggested that we visit Crested Butte as one of the most beautiful places in Colorado. It was a few hours of driving which started as open prairie, and eventually became a windy mountain pass. Arriving in Gunnison, we grabbed some barbeque and headed north on the one road into Crested Butte.

As we approached, we could see that it was in fact a very beautiful place, on of the most picturesque that we’ve ever visited. Mount Crested Butte imposingly rises on the eastern side of town while higher mountains with snow in the peaks surround the area. We parked the car and walked down main street looking for something to do, and wandered into the Mountain Bike museum. It had a piano and we couldn’t help playing some ragtime!

It turns out that Crested Butte is the mountain bike capital of the west (or possibly the world). We rented some bikes, grabbed a trail map and headed off on some of the not-so-hardcore trails just outside of the town. We took a break and dipped our feet in the river, which was instantly numbing.

We decided to camp just outside of town where we found “Oh be Joyful,” a Bureau of Land Management site which was on a road that the prius could barely navigate due to the ruts and boulders. We set up camp in view of the snowy mountains and played some music before going to sleep early. Due to the chilly evening we set up the car for sleeping. Oddly enough, we were one of the few campers to have a roof over our heads. We soon noticed that many of the other people around us were setting up their sleeping bags on the ground….and the low was in the 30’s…..sheesh!

 

The next day, we awoke and hiked the “Oh be Joyful” trail towards two tall waterfalls. It required fording the numbing river, which I calculated to be at 32.000000001 degrees. Those with trucks and SUVs were driving across it. After gaining feeling back in our feet we hiked up to the waterfalls, wondering how this area was not a national park.

Waterfalls

After navigating back up the “road,” we headed to the ski town where we would hike through Snodgrass meadows and into the aspen groves. After crossing ten thousand feet in altitude we headed back to the car, huffing and puffing

After some music in the park, we went to Teocalli Tamale for burritos that should fill us up for days! I learned that their hot salsa was very hot as a turned bright red eating their burrito.

We’re headed in the general direction of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, looking for a campsite for the night.