August 16, 2022 Kicking Butte

 

August 16, 2022 Kicking Butte

Sometimes, I like to sit on my humans.  They try to move me off, but I won’t let them.

It is a cloudy morning, so I took my rain poncho with me on my walk just in case, but the rain stayed away.  Spouse has been on the hunt for someone who can fix his bike battery, but no luck.

Today, we headed up hwy 135 to Crested Butte.  While the road to Taylor Reservoir was narrow and hugged by mountains, the road to Crested Butte was through a somewhat wide alpine valley.  The meadows are green with rivers running through.  I see both the East River and Slate River, but there could be more.  The mountains in the foreground are green with thickets of aspens, then green then thickets of pines.  It is very scenic.

We actually passed through the town about 3 miles to the ski area.  Here is where the condos and lodges and hotels dominate.  It is all close together to make it easier for the skiiers.

We continued on until we hit a dirt road and entered the Gunnison National Forest.

I don’t have the words in my vocabulary that can adequately describe it.  Let me give you some adjectives:  BEAUTIFUL, MAJESTIC, BREATHTAKING, INCREDIBLE.  Notice that they are all upper case and in bold print.  Then multiply that by 10 and you may have just a bit of a description of the utter eye candy of the back high county.  The pictures cannot capture the breadth of the scenery, but that is all I have.  On a scale of 1-10, this is definitely a 50 as far as sheer beauty.

The road starts out going through a thick aspen forest for about a mile.  Once past the trees, the valley below is green with rivers meandering through.  The mountains rise thousands of feet above us and we are already at 9000 feet.  They are covered in wildflowers for as far as the eye can see.  The bare tops of the highest peaks have pink stripes woven into them.  There are some with vertical rock shelfs mixed with stands of trees.  Every corner we turn is incredible. 

The dirt road is very well maintained and we find out why in about 4 miles when we come to the town of Gothic.  Once a silver mining town, it is now home to the Rocky Mountain Bio Lab, which is a study center for a variety of things regarding the science of flora, fauna, water, and who knows what.  It is still very rustic, and the most the students have returned to their colleges.  In the winter, they keep a couple of cabins for cross country skiers and snowshoers that have the moxie to make the trek in.  Once it snows, there is no motor entry, so that is the mode of travel…  4 miles… uphill…

As we drive on, the road is not quite as smooth but it is ok.  Still, every turn is awe inspiring.  We are down in the meadow and start to climb.  The road gets smaller.  It has rained so there is a little mud and water here and there but it isn’t bad.  We came to one part of the road that is narrow… very narrow…  and there is a steep drop off… why, oh why does it have to work like that? 

We pass an occasional bicycle rider – they are some tough ones!  We pass a lake, I hear it is Emerald Lake.  At about 20 miles in, we found a place to turn around and start back.  We stopped at the lake for a wee walk.  The wildflowers are screaming at us!  Pinks, whites, yellows and purples.  What a show!  

Then we head back out… on that steep ass narrow road, where timing is everything…  first there is a bicycle, and behind him is a truck… and another truck… and looks like another car…  Really?  We just came down the bumpiest of the road and we cannot back up.  The bicyclist edges by us.  We just sit there until the other cars could back up a bit and hug the mountain, and I mean HUG the mountain.  Oh, that means we get to go over the cliff?  Spouse says we have the room.  Fair weather friend that I am declares, no f’n way and I got out of the truck and walked ahead thinking I might be watching my Spouse tumble to his death!  Turns out there was enough room, by about a foot.  The woman in one of the other cars could not believe how calm I was.  Hmmm… I am not the one risking my life!  And from the outside, it was easier to see that death was not imminent.

Once we got past them, the road is back to easy.  It is raining lightly but we are through the tough stuff and the rain is not a problem.

We finally left the forest and went into the town of Crested Butte.  It is an old mining town but the facades of the buildings have all been upgraded and are a variety of bright colors.  Pinks, purples, yellows, it is all very cute.  Little shops and restaurants… all high end.  We saw a house for sale.  Spouse thought it was probably about $800,000.  I looked it up… He was close…  The $800,000 was correct, but it had a 3 before it… $3,800,000.  I could only imagine what the houses on the hills are worth.  Ka-ching!

After a late Thai lunch (or early dinner), I gave my spouse a rest and did the driving back… as the rain started.  It didn’t rain hard until we got back, and then it poured.  Good…. Send that water to California…  Oh, and one more thing… did not hit a deer…