The Crested Butte Trip

Here are some of the better pictures that we took during the five-day trip in mid July 2005 to Crested Butte, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Marble, and Aspen. Between the four of us, we took more than four hundred pictures during this five-day trip.

Sunday, July 10th: left home, traveled to Crested Butte, taking a short-cut over Cottonwood Pass. The road goes right between two fourteeners in the Colliegate Range and climbs to over 12,000 feet before descending into Taylor Park. We drove past the large reservoir, and down the canyon, finding a small National Forest campground and stopping for lunch. We then continued on to Crested Butte. The highlight of the day was dinner at "Soupcon", a very small French/American restaurant which seated, at most, 20 people.. I had New Zealand elk...very yummy. We also had a couple of unusual appetizers: cantaloupe soup, a cold soup served with a sprinkling of crab meat on it. Very unusual and pretty good...and I'm no fan of cantaloupe! Cora got a frog legs appetizer. Very rich and loaded with garlic. Tasted like chicken to me. <g>

In September of 2005 we returned to Crested Butte for one afternoon during a three-day sojourn to the Marble area to take in the autumn leaf color. Those pictures are here.

And, finally, we went back in '07. This time we were a week earlier in the season, so we missed the peak color along Kebler Pass Rd., but it was still pretty nice along Gothic Road. Pictures from that trip are here.

 


July 10th: taken from the top of Cottonwood Pass, looking south.

 


Mt. Crested Butte, from our condo's deck.


I'm speechless. Definitely not a bike for rainy days. Carmine admires it, too. Speaking of bikes, Crested Butte HAS to
be the nation's capital for old bicycles. I saw bikes there that I could have ridden when I was a kid!

 

 

Monday, July 11th. We had registered and paid for a photo session with the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., leaving us with the morning to kill. We decided to drive up and over Kebler Pass (it's Kebler, not Keebler--no elves!). Along the way we drove up the short road to Lake Irwin. There are a couple of lodges on this beautiful lake. While primitive (solar power only!), they looked like cool places to stay.

 


On Kebler Pass.

 


Lake Irwin, off Kebler Pass. Most of the lake is behind the camera...I just didn't feel like the long walk to the end of the lake.

 


Flowers in the campground at Lake Irwin.

 


Along Kebler Pass Rd.

 

Pictures below were taken during the "class". It wasn't really a class, but more of a car pool to a good place to take flower
pictures. The guy in charge made no attempt to teach anything...he was there as a consultant, I guess.


Crested Butte taken from the class's venue.

 


Mule's Ears.

 


Columbine

 

 

Tuesday, July 12th: While we were in our class yesterday, Janet and Carmine drove around and wound up going up Gothic Rd. to the "town" of Gothic. Flowers along this road were spectacular, so we resolved to do this trip again today when the light was better.

 


Lupine.
(Click the image for a larger version)

 


Lupine was everywhere!

 


Avalanche chute. A big slide fell from upper left to lower right sometime last winter or (probably) spring. The road (off
camera to the right) was still closed by the remanents of this slide. (see next picture)

 


The road to Schofield Pass was still closed by about 25' of snow, from the avalanche (picture above).

 


This field was incredible...mule's ears and lupine everywhere!

Wednesday, July 13th: Moving day...pack up and move from Crested Butte to Marble. We took a side trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

 


Following a thundershower along the Crystal River.(Click the image for a larger version)

 

Thursday, July 14th: After a breakfast prepared for us by our innkeeper, we drove down the road and joined a backcountry Jeep tour (but it wasn't a Jeep!). We signed on for a four-hour tour, which included the famous and highly-photographed Crystal Mill.

After the Jeep ride, we drove to Aspen for our last night. It was like returning to the Big City after some of the places we stayed. Traffic noise and congestion and Beautiful People (at least they think they are...) everywhere. I don't think I'll make Aspen a destination anytime soon.

 


The living room of the bed & breakfast near Marble. Seven bedrooms in all, and
very laid-back.

 


A bumpy road, to say the least! No way would a standard sedan make it up this road!

 


Our transportation. Sitting in the back seat had some disadvantages. It was right over the rear axle...very bumpy, which
became very tiring after four hours. And that engine had a lot of miles on it by the smell of the exhaust! But we did
get to see some beautiful country.



One of the main "shopping drags" in Aspen. What a pretentious town this is! And a disaster traffic-wise. Not at all
your sleepy little mountain town. Yuck!


July 12th: a field of mule's ears and lupine.

 


July 13th: the Gunnison River, down in the bottom of the Black Canyon.


A visitor overlook at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.


July 13th: "the painted wall", full of igneous intrusions. This cliff is the highest
cliff in Colorado at over 2,000 feet. The Empire State Building would only
come up just over half-way!

 


July 14th: the Crystal Mill...one of the most photographed historical relics in the state, taken during our
backcountry tour. Our driver lived in the town of Crystal (no electricity, phones, etc.) just up the road
during summers away from the university. Definitely a far cry from Aspen! (Click the image for a larger version)

 


July 14th: from near the high point of our Jeep backcountry tour, looking at the headwaters of the Crystal River.
No wonder the river was still bank-full! (Click the image for a larger version)

 


July 14th: Snowmass Peak (14,000' +) on the left, from Lead King Basin, 4 x 4 road. There's a lake over the tree-covered
hill, which drains over the hill, accounting for the water cascade and falls.

 


July 15th: the Maroon Bells, two of the most famous mountains, and probably the most-photographed mountains in the state.

We did a similar trip in the fall. Those pictures are HERE.