day 25…7.24
I started this wonderful day by receiving an invitation to a home-cooked breakfast by Tom & Kelly & to meet his mountain biking buddies. Yummy! Pancakes with fresh blueberries & bacon on the side, meeting new people & hearing about the adventures of old friends. After breakfast, they were heading out on a bike ride & I was heading up to Walrod Gulch…or the Caves hike…two names, but one hike. Usually I like to hike this trail early in the season as it has the earliest wildflowers, so even though I suspected they’d be bloomed out, I wanted to hit this trail. It’s a bunch of air-sucking switchbacks to the top, then the trail meanders over this gentle mountain.
And some of the wildflowers were still blooming big time!
I just made it off the trail in time to hit Momo’s for lunch! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Karma’s food—it’s filling, spicy, sweet, yummy meat & lentils & super affordable. I got the Momo-To-Go which is served in a paper cup & then took it outside & sat on one of the many benches that line Elk (the main street) in Crested Butte & people & Toyota watched (I love to check out old Toyota’s & there are a ton of them in CB). I hadn’t been sitting there too long before my friend Kristin & her boyfriend walked by. I’d seen her briefly while she was working one day, but we hadn’t had a chance to catch up. I’d never met Keith either…so we all sat & visited for about 30 minutes & made a promise to meet up later in the week. She is such a happy girl, always a big smile on her face!
I went back to camp to just chill for awhile. Later in the afternoon a HUGE storm blew in & I thought the screen tent was going to collapse & blow away. I put some big rocks around the bottom then tucked back into Camper to wait out the storm. After it was over, I could see fresh snow high on top of one of the mountains down the road. Tom & Kelly invited me to ride with them & meet their friends for dinner in town. Wow…I never eat three meals in one day, but I was so looking forward to sharing dinner with all of them. I do love my solo travel, but one of the best parts of traveling is meeting people, so I wasn’t going to pass up this social event. We ate at the Sherpa Cafe…each of us ordering something different then all sharing…it was great!!! The Nepalese food is always good, but having friends at the table & listening to all of their super interesting lives was just spectacular!!!
Also, I really enjoyed riding in Tom & Kelly’s huge truck with the camper on top & learning more about their truck camping experiences. But I have to admit, I was waffling on my dream to own one. It’s big! Tom & Kelly continually send me ideas of campers, trucks & other vehicles that might work for me as one, or for me & Danny. I have no doubt Danny could pull or haul anything & be totally comfortable about it. But not me…I’ve never wanted anything outside & connected to my 4Runner…I didn’t even like the bike rack we once had ….& it didn’t help that it sheared two pins causing a mess while we had it. So, now that I was getting to see for myself, how truly big this truck felt with 4,000 pounds on top, my dream of being a solo truck camper driver, was disappearing (why don’t I dream of just becoming a bad ass driver?) Kelly would be leaving with the biker-friends tomorrow…flying back to the west coast for her nursing job for 4 days. We said our good nights as the rain started pouring & pounded on top of the 4Runner all night. No starry skies tonight!
day 26…7.25
It was still raining this morning, so I slept in a little & read in Camper. I needed a shower! I used to love going to the local Hostel in CB…it was $6, super clean & a friendly place. But in the last 3 years or so, I’ve re-named it the Hostile Hostel! They’re now charging $10 for a shower & no one acts like they want you to be there. The doors are filled with signs that just scream at you with bunch of rules. But, the next closest place to shower is 35 miles south in Gunnison. I drove into town, forked over my $10 bucks & took a wonderful hot long shower with lots of soap & shampoo, put on clean sweet smelling clothes & took myself out to breakfast at Paradise. Yum Yum!
The skies were still looking like they were going to let loose a bunch of rain, so I stayed close to town & hiked the Lower Loop. Not a big hike, but a super popular one (although with overcast skies, it wasn't crowded today) & always very pretty next to the river.
Mt. Crested Butte peeking out from behind the clouds!
After my hike I went back to the library & checked out another book. I had a 4:00 beer meet up at the Brick with Rick, one of my friends I’ve met in CB. He’s the manager of the Visitors Center at RMBL & I always enjoy our visits! We caught up on all that is CB…one of my favorite subjects & as always, the beer was great. After my visit with Rick, I went to the Secret Stash for a slice of pizza, then back to camp. Another big storm tonight, but it ended soon enough for one of Crested Butte’s beautiful rainbows! I really do believe this place is the ‘pot of gold’ at the rainbows end!
day 27…7.26
I had a super lazy long morning in camp…love these times of peace, quiet, looking up onto the ridge for wildlife, hearing the river…just LOVE IT! I decided early afternoon to go on the East River hike with it’s overviews of the East River Valley & Teocalli mountain, the fly fisherman & the old barns in the valley.
The Lupine were out of bloom, but the side of the mountain was filled with yellow!
I ended the evening up on Mt. Crested listening to the free concert at the base of the mountain…the weather cooperating with overcast, but dry skies!
day 28…7.27
Tom made some delicious oatmeal this morning & offered to share it with me, so we pulled our camp chairs out into the sunshine, visited & watched the ridge for wildlife. I hadn’t done another big hike for awhile so today would be my biggest one. Usually, I’m on the trail bright & early when I have lots of mileage to cover, but not this morning. I’ve done the hike up to Blue Lake at least once before, & also hiked it with Danny from a different (eek! scary, scary, scary) off-trail route (that I will never do again! Closest I’ve ever come to thinking I might need to press the RED button on my GPS locater SPOT for help). I’ve done this trail up into Democrat Basin once before & hiked up into the valley several times. But, evidently, forgotten how difficult this hike is (I hope it’s my memory & not my aging body!) I did remember thinking the end of the hike up near the lake was hard…but oh boy…it was hard. This hike begins by crossing the Slate River, so I started in my Chacos. Interesting note: the river is really wide here & about calf deep today. There was a man, his wife & a couple of tweens getting ready to hike & he asked me where the trailhead was at, pointing in the totally wrong direction on the parking side of the river. I said no, the trail was across the river & the actual trailhead was a mile walk up the jeep road. He said “well, I’m not crossing that river” looked at this wife & said, ‘we’re finding another way around it”. Good luck I thought, as I plunged my feet into the cold water & began my crossing. (I have a feeling they got back in their car & headed back to town.)
The trail up into the valley is filled with so many waterfalls as you hike along the Oh-Be-Joyful stream. Eye candy for sure!
After a few miles, the big mountains come into view….always takes my breath away! The hike to this point isn’t hard, just gently always going up hill.
Then the trail begins to climb & climb & climb until you’re in a watery valley. There’s water everywhere & mud too. So much snow melt, makes for more falls, more streams, more puddles & trying to stay dry & out of the mud & not stepping on the wildflowers!
And just when you’ve done all that, you look up WAY WAY ABOVE your head, to see your final destination… Blue Lake. OMG….it’s still a long way to climb UP! (The lake sits at the base of the mountain you see between the snow & the group of small bushes up by the rocks.)
The trail gets super steep, & I was feeling it for sure. I passed two women about my age, hiking down, but when I arrived at the lake, I was all by myself!
Tired hiker, but so happy to be here!
The view from below of Scarp Ridge up above.
I stayed a bit at the lake, before starting back down the trail. I’d hiked up more than 6 miles, & usually when I’m going down, it feels easy. I was so tired as I began the long hike back. Unusual for me, but thankfully I had amazing views (different than coming up) to keep me distracted from feeling exhausted.
The last couple of miles felt too hard. Not sure why, but I was glad to make it back to the river, clean up my dirty legs & cool off my feet. I had hiked faster than normal, because I was meeting a friend tonight & didn’t want to be late…also I had to do laundry in between. I went to the Hostile Hostel (which also owns the laundromat) & threw in my clothes …I had just enough time to get them clean before I was going to meet Kristin. I phoned Danny & caught up with him, drank a soda for the caffeine infusion, then grabbed my wet clothes & headed to the Brick. I was HUNGRY & was going to eat my whole meal & have a good beer. 13 miles today seemed to take it out of me….I really didn’t like that feeling, but tried to focus on the beauty of the hike & the accomplishment that I didn’t keel over on the way back.
I had a wonderful evening visiting with Kristin at the Brick! So much fun getting to know this young, adventurous woman! And the food & a good beer all helped relax & refuel my body. I headed back out to camp to enjoy a magnificent cotton candy night sky!
day 29…7.28
Today would be no-hike day. I started the morning by hanging out all my laundry to dry. In this mountain sun, it dried quickly (Note: When you choose to dry all of your socks on the hood of your car, remember to remove them before driving off. Lesson learned…you would have thought I’d have noticed 4 pair of socks on the hood of my car!) I made a point of NOT eating breakfast…I didn’t have to since I wasn’t hiking. I re-packed all my dry clothes & got ready to head out. Tom was going to be in camp for another couple of nights, so I didn’t worry about leaving my two tents up over Friday night— abandoned-- as I would be in Denver tonight.
I drove into Gunnison & took a shower (I wanted to be at least clean for Danny—I’m bruised, scabbed, cut, beyond sun-kissed & hairy), then headed over the pass towards Poncha Springs. Prior to riding with Tom & Kelly in their big truck with their big camper, I had finally found what I thought was the truck camper of my dreams. I loved it’s design…inside & out, the materials used & the colors.... & the story behind the designer & how it was done. But, I’d only seen photos online. I’d found a dealer in Poncha Springs, just over Monarch Pass, so I’d planned to stop & see it in person on my way to Denver. It was everything it promised…but now bigger than what I thought I could do by myself & still be independent on the back roads. I loved to looking at it though! Plus, Toyota doesn’t make a truck big enough to handle a load like this…if I was going to someday do this, I’d have to give in to buy a non-Toyota truck. And, first & foremost, I don’t have the money for any of this. Dream, dream, dream.
I stopped in Buena Vista at the Brown Dog cafe for a Cambric but the traffic heading up on 285 towards Denver was crazy…line of cars, trucks & RV’s for miles. Thankfully, I only had a little rain on the way. I eventually made it late in the afternoon, for my fav Cuban sandwich & some good beer at Hops & Pie….Love this place! It became Friday night & the neighborhood with so many restaurants & bars became a hub of activity. I wasn’t in any hurry to leave, so I kept my car parked on a side street that still let me see people, but they weren’t paying any attention to me. So, I cleaned out my car & tried to get it all reorganized. I’d be picking up Danny at the airport early in the morning, so I moved all the stuff from his seat to the back. I read for a long time past dark, then drove out to the cell lot at the airport, where I would spend the night.