Crested Butte - Day 1

On Sunday, August 1, the Diddiwahs and the Scaqabouts were converging on Crested Butte, Colorado. Admittedly, the process was easier for us Diddiwahs, requiring less than 3 hours in the truck, while the Scaqabouts slogged on for nearly 3 days. But by Sunday morning, both families were closing in; we made car-to-car phone calls (when the mountains permitted reception) to share ETAs and coordinate a location to meet up. We thought we would meet at our rental cabin, but we arrived to find the cleaning crew still at work, so we all met at a park at the edge of Crested Butte. Then we headed into town to get some lunch.

We were surprised, and a bit dismayed, to find the main street closed to traffic and lined with tents and booths for an art festival. We had known about the event when we were planning our trip but we'd forgotten about it until we saw the crowds. Luckily we were able to get a table at Pitas in Paradise fairly quickly, and it was only a short eternity until our food arrived. After lunch, we walked leisurely back to our cars, taking time to look at some of the art.

We all went to the cabin and were able to get in. It was a pretty nice rental, a genuine log cabin that was clean and nicely furnished. Its yard was overgrown with wildflowers and small trees, bordered on one side with a shallow creek. The kids and dogs immediately gravitated towards the water while the adults brought suitcases and groceries in the cabins and sorted out who would be sleeping in each of the 3 bedrooms.

Happily, there was enough daylight left that we could go for a bike ride, so we headed back to town to ride the Lower Loop and Upper Lower Loop trails. Chris and I had scouted out these trails on the 4th of July weekend, and we thought it would be a good place for a family ride... and we were right. We parked beside Peanut Lake and -once the bikes were unloaded and shoes and helmets located - rode up a gravel road to the trails. Lower Loop is an easy trail with a section of narrow rocky singletrack near the beginning which didn't present any problem to Quinn, Abbey or our big red tandem pulling the trail-a-bike.


Further down the trail we came to a climb up and over some tree roots followed by a very rooty descent. Abbey navigated this quite well but she came to a screeching stop after the tricky part when she found herself up close and personal with a cow.


The trail meandered beside a creek, which always makes Utah happy. Amos was less interested in getting in the water. Lower Loop trail ends at a road, but we turned left onto that road and started climbing towards Upper Lower Loop. It's a fairly short climb but it's steep, and it proved a little challenging, especially to the flatlanders who hadn't had a chance to acclimate to the altitude... and to Chris and I, crawling along on a big bike with Cailan in tow. We took a break at the start of Upper Lower, reviving the kids with fruit twists and sport beans.

Upper Lower is very fun - it's a tight, narrow trail clinging to a steep hillside. It's mostly smooth, with some rocky sections and a few short, root-infested climbs in aspen groves. There are great views both up the valley towards big snowy peaks and down the valley towards town and Mt Crested Butte.


And then all the climbing pays off with a fun, curvy descent back to the Lower Loop trail. We encountered a few mud puddles along the way, and Cailan ended up "drizzled":


Later, back at the cabin, we enjoyed a dinner of bean burritos around the huge table in the sunroom. The kids all wanted to swim in the hot tub - the water temperature had been lowered to 96 degrees so even Cailan was able to get in and splash around, while the sun set and a late evening sprinkle went unnoticed.