Crested Butte and Aspen, Colorado
Sept 2007

Jean and I, at the Continental Divide
photo by an unknown passerby

This photo was taken on the last day of the trip, at Independence Pass on the Continental Divide, on route 82 between Aspen and Leadville. The elevation is over 12,000 ft - the highest we've been on this trip - and it is cold and windy. Jean kept her hood on. I took mine off only long enough for the photo. I think that the large mountain in the background is Mt Massive, second highest in Colorado (third highest in the lower 48 states).

Click here to view a map of our route (it will open in a separate window or tab)

The highlights of the trip were the aspens, turning bright gold this time of year. This shot was taken from the Cathedral Lakes Trail outside of Aspen.

This photo was taken on the first big hike of the trip. It's the Washington Gulch Trail, just past the town of Gothic, CO, north of Crested Butte. We were not yet used to the altitude, and turned back when we reached about 11,000 ft.

Aspens, along the Upper Upper Loop Trail

The trails in Crested Butte are not very imaginatively named. There's the Upper Loop Trail, the Lower Loop Trail, the Upper Lower Loop Trail, and this, the Upper Upper Loop Trail. These are all mountain bike trails as well as hiking trails. There is also the Oh-Be-Joyful Trail, but we never got that far. As you can see, the color of the aspens was spectacular, and provided us with enough joyfulness.

The guidebooks suggested taking Rte 12 over Kebler Pass, to see lots of aspens, en route from Crested Butte to Aspen (the town). We were not disappointed. However "Route 12" is a bit misleading to us easterners: this is not exactly a limited access highway. We had a few unscheduled stops, such as the one pictured here.

Sheep crossing Highway 12

Continuing along Highway 12 (also called the Kebler Pass Rd), we saw lots of lovely aspen trees,
and some mountains such as the one in the next photo.

View from the Upper Upper Loop Trail, Crested Butte.

Cathedral Lakes Trail outside of Aspen.
We ran out of time, and had to turn around here, but the scenery ahead looks beautiful too.

2004 trip to Colorado: Telluride and the Durango-Silverton RR
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