I used to live in Colorado, you know. In fact, the first road trip I ever took in 2014 ended in Colorado with me moving into a place in Florissant. I worked for the National Park Service for a year as a museum technician / paleontologist at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. I loved my job and my town, but ultimately found that I couldn't hack the winters - seven months of snow, NO THANKS! So I moved on to graduate school in Austin, and now only have to complain about three months of blazing heat instead. But Colorado will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first place I ever moved away from home, and its beauty never failed to take my breath away.
I haven't been back to Colorado since 2015, mostly because I felt that I had seen quite a bit of it and not very much of a lot of other states. So my road trips have circled around it, always close but never quite getting there. But this year's the year! I've finally decided to go back and see some of the southwest quadrant of the state.
I left Santa Fe in the morning, ignoring my concerns for Jane as we ventured into more remote areas of the country. Every year that I do these trips, it seems that my first day is the worst. But after that, Jane and I are usually on the same page.
And so it was for this trip as well. We headed up the highway, motor purring with contentment, wind howling through the open window, radio whispering undertones of classic rock.
I grinned as we passed the Colorado welcome sign, which still remains one of the worst state welcome signs I've seen. And suddenly, we were soaring over hills and dipping through valleys, the scenery improving by the second.
I made my way up to Crested Butte, a fabled destination even by Colorado standards. My friend, Chris, had offered his spare bedroom up and I had jumped at the chance to visit. This place is known as one of the most beautiful spots in Colorado, and the views leading up into town definitely did not disappoint.
I parked Jane at his place and we opted to take his off-roading rig - a very badass Jeep - out to the top of Washington Gulch for some quality hiking. There was no way Jane could have climbed those roads, so I didn't feel bad leaving her behind. A record number of avalanches, caused by nearly 400% more snowfall than usual, had wiped out some of the trails and rendered a lot inaccessible only by 4x4. But when you've got a Jeep with big tires and a bigger lift, that doesn't really matter.
We hopped onto the 403 trail and hiked up, my body doing its best to suddenly re-acclimate to high-elevation cardio. I thought that the wildflowers were spectacular, but Chris said they were still a few weeks out from full bloom due to the late thaw this summer.
But the real gem of the 403 was at the top of the trail, we found. After a few pretty steep sections, we found ourselves loking over the backside of the Maroon Bells! Chris told me the names of all of the mountains, but of course I forgot them... so while I know that there were more mountains in view than the Maroon Bells, I also know that I have no idea what they were. Anyways, I really loved the combination of different mountain types. Some were clearly uplifted sedimentary rock, whereas others appeared to have an intrusive igneous origin. Geologically, super awesome! But from a layperson's standpoint, it just means that some mountains were red and softly sloped and heavily vegetated, whereas others were gray and sharp and craggy.
We made our way back down and into town, at which point I realized I was absolutely ravenous. Sometimes I forget to eat when I'm on the road, and it occurred to me that I had just hiked on a nearly empty stomach containing a sum total of two small granola bars for the day. Woof! We headed to the Last Steep, a local favorite burger kind of joint. I had a really cool Hawaiian burger and some artichoke cheddar soup. I'm not sure if it was because I was so hungry, but that burger was AMAZING.
After poking around a couple gift shops, we retired for the night and I collapsed into bed early. I wanted to get an early (for me) start on the Crested Butte trails. Chris had given me some great ideas for hikes but also had cautioned that parking would fill up fast, giving me incentive to actually move my butt in the morning.
So, until then... Kelly signing out!
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