Snodgrass Trail, Crested Butte CO.

July 22, 2022

The trail is about 1 mile from our campsite (blue arrow). With binoculars we can see people on the trail.

Trailhead parking on the right.

The start of the trail passes through a treeless meadow...

...then winds through an Aspen forest for a little over a mile.

Suddenly it opens to this wonderful view. Crested Butte mountain on the left with the community of Mt. Crested Butte below.

Some steep uphills.

The trail is an out and back.  We turned around at the high point, avoiding the steep return trip.

More to come from Crested Butte CO.

Crested Butte CO

July 19, 2022

We moved from Twin Lakes to an area 6 miles north of Crested Butte CO.  The dispersed camping here is "designated".  Each site has a number and and you can only camp on numbered sites, no freelancing.  We were heading for a spot we'd picked based on reviews and satellite images.  As we approached the area it was looking pretty grim and we were hoping for ANY site we'd fit in.  As we turned down the road towards the chosen site a van was coming out.  I lowered my window and asked " are you leaving or looking"? He said "leaving, second site one on the left, it's all yours".  We backed in and setup, with this wonderfull view.  

The site we're in is right next to the one we were shooting for.  What luck!!!

More to come.

Willis Creek trail and final images from Twin Lakes CO

July 17, 2022

Willis Creek loop hike.

Note: Cell service is iffy in and around Crested Butte. I thought this entry was already posted.  So here's the last post from Twin Lakes CO.  More to come from Crested Butte CO.

The trail starts with a walk across the bridge to the trailhead.

After some steep rocky up and down to start, the trail levels out to different terrain at lake level.

The next leg is a steady uphill along this beautiful creek.

Crossing the bridge over the creek before heading down the other side on the return leg.

Great views on the way down.

Overlooking Twin Lakes.

Approaching the trailhead and the end of the hike, we noticed this Beaver lodge...

... along with some Twin Berries reminding us of summers on the Oregon Coast.

We hiked clockwise.

Here's a few more images from Twin Lakes... 

We saw several CDT through hikers used this flat gound for a campsite.  This day it was a lunch spot overlooking our site.

CDT and Colorado Trail go around the lake, crossing at the dam.

While scouting future campsites, we ran across this hillside cemetery for the little community of Granite CO.

Granite CO.

On another day of scouting we found this site with a fabulous view.  This may be our campsite next time we come this way.

As with our last campsite at Shavano, the hummers were ravenous!

Caught this one on the wing.

Another "fire on the mountain" sunset.

We spent 13 days at Twin Lakes.  The plan was to continue north on US 24 but nothing looked appealing and it would lead to lower elevation and higher temperatures.  We decided to back track a little, before heading west.

Coming next, Crested Butte CO.

Day trip to Aspen... sort-of.

July 8, 2022

Twin Lakes is at the intersection of US 24 and CO 82.  82 leads to Aspen CO, 45 mile away.  Between here and there is Independence Pass.

There's a vehical length limit of 35 ft. so there's no way we'd try to pull the camper.  Here's some pictures of the drive up...

Yeah, still patches of snow at 12,000 ft on July 8th.

View from the pass looking down toward Aspen.

Some history.. 

Between the pass and Aspen is The Grottos...

Slabs of ice in the ice caves.

A person standing on the ice, for perspective.  We chose not to climb down into the caves.

More ice.

Lunch by the rushing water at the Grottos.

We got to Aspen and spent about 10 minutes looking for a parking place.  A small public lot was full so we found a spot in a residential area near this beautifull church built in 1890.

With no agenda we started walking around town.

Views of the surrounding ski slopes with their summer green grass.

We walked around for about 15 minutes and decided this wasn't for us. The traffic was noisy with lots of construction going on. I'm sure there are fun things to do, we just wern't in the mood. Oh-well we can say we've been to Aspen!

More scenery  going back...

There are 2 places where the road is only wide enough for one car at a time.

On the way back we stoped for a short hike to Weller Lake.

The drive to Aspen turned out to be more fun than the town. "It's not the destination but the journey "!