day 30…7.29
Yay! Danny’s here in Colorado with me!! We’re both soooo excited to spend our week together in a place we both love soooo much! We decided to take the LONG way back in trying to avoid so much Saturday morning traffic along 285, so we went all the way to Colorado Springs & took 40 West. Not near the traffic, but probably a lot more miles. He wanted to stop in Poncha Springs to see the truck camper I’d looked at so that was our first stop. We also looked at some tear drop campers. Jill is in love with the Nu-Camp (same maker as my truck camper) so we looked at a version (although not her version) of one. And I began to wonder if I couldn’t pull something this small behind me? I wouldn’t need a truck, both Danny & I could sleep in it, it has a kitchen, shower & toilet. Ummm…I know Jill is much closer to getting what she wants than I am. So my new plan is to drive her car pulling her camper & see how it is. I’m sure she’s good with that…right Jill?
Then we went to Elevation Brewery conveniently in ….Poncha Springs (this tiny town can’t have more than a few businesses). We love this tiny brewery, & partook of some excellent beer & street tacos from today’s food truck. Then it was time to head over the pass towards Gunnison, but we had so much to catch up on & Danny was able to catch a few winks since he’d been up since 3:30am CST. We made a fast trip for gas, ice & groceries in town, then headed up to CB.
Once out at camp, the skies looked like they were going to dump. I introduced Tom & Danny & they hit it off immediately. After visiting about 45 minutes, the rain came down in buckets (Tom had told us it rained so hard the night before, there was a river going through camp!) But Tom saved the evening by inviting us into his awesome camper to sit around & visit. I have to admit, it was great sitting at their table, visiting, warm & dry. And, when the conversations are all about adventure, travel, camping, places to see & experience…I’m always on a high! After much chatting, we said good night & crawled into Camper. It was cozy to say the least. I turned on a light & we picnicked in the back…kind of squished, but managed it anyway. It rained all night long. I was so hoping this rain wouldn’t continue while Danny was here.
Note: As you can see, my camera’s did NO work today. We had a great time together, but no pics.
day 31…7.30
We said our 'good mornings' to Tom as we all watched a herd of 22 Elk on the ridge. Then we said good bye to Tom as he packed up to head towards Denver to pick up Kelly who’d be flying back on Tuesday. We were hopeful to meet up with the two of them later in the week.
The sun was out & it looked like it would be beautiful day….Yippee!! We drove up Slate River road as far as it goes, & because Danny was with me, I felt brave enough to drive this narrow, drop off, one lane, long & rocky road. We’d heard it was drivable, but it’s the backing up part I don’t like if I’m by myself. I had the advantage of being the one going up hill, but if the downhill person didn’t back up, I’d have no choice & I’d be on the outside near the drop offs (this is a tiny dirt road with chunks out of some of the side of road…not a place you want to accidentally drop a tire into & roll off the edge). We made it to the top of Washington Gulch road & to the trailhead. I’d specifically NOT done this hike yet, so we could do it for the first time together. It’s a mountain bike trail call the 403 & has amazing views from the top. A great hike to acclimate with, since it’s not too difficult.
It was soooo good to be hiking with Danny again! Once down off this trail, we stopped at the car & grabbed a snack, then took off up the No Name trail, which I’ve come to learn really does have a name…the Anthracite summit trail. A short hike but straight up to the top, with amazing views!
Still a lot of wildflowers up this high!
Looking over at the line of snow is where the Slate River begins…snow melt all down hill. And the curvy road we drove to get up here below.
This guy was born for the mountains. No acclimating necessary & can hike endlessly & effortlessly!
Looking over the valley towards Daisy Pass trail I’d hiked earlier this trip. The snowfields have melted out from across the trail. (This pic zoomed in for sure!)
View of Long Lake & Mt. Crested Butte.
Great to be together in our Happy Place!
After our hike, we drove down Washington Gulch road & back into town & had a wonderful lunch, outside, at the Ginger Cafe. Then we walked up the street to the Brick, drank some really good beer & had some awesome conversations with the staff & those “new friends” we always meet at the bar. It’s the place beer-geeks hang out for sure. The weather had been perfect all day. We built a fire at camp & looked at the amazing sky. This really is such a perfect place & I’m so glad to be sharing it now, with Danny.
day 32…7.31 Happy Birthday Jill!
We decided to eat at Paradise Cafe this morning, so we skipped making coffee in camp, loaded up our packs & headed out. The staff at Paradise is so great & Danny & Kristin visited for a few minutes, but it was so nice that a couple of the other staff welcomed Danny too. I tried their Apple Cider Cinnamon Mimosa…so yummy. I’ll be trying this one for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning for sure. Then we drove out Kebler Pass to another one of our favorite…maybe MOST favorite hikes we do every year…up Scarp Ridge. It’s always hard, but so wonderful….I never get tired of this hike!
The view to Green Lake.
The waterfall below Green Lake.
We decided to take the loop & hike the ridge instead of turning back & going down the way we came up. As we were coming down the trail, before getting on the loop hike, we noticed a young couple off the trail & looking over the edge towards Peeler Basin. They were shouting at two other couples, one with a baby on their back to join them. But then we noticed as we hiked by them & down the trail, they’d turned around there…not going the 20 minutes more to the top. We’d heard them OHHH & AHHHH over the view they saw, but we knew they were missing the OMG AMAZING view from the top of the ridge. We stopped…do we tell them they weren’t at the big view? Mind our own business? Ummm…plus we’d have to back track up the trail to tell them. I don’t want to be a busy body, but if I were on a first hike to somewhere & thought I was at the top, & turned around missing the best part, I would want someone to tell me so I could turn around & not miss it. We decided to turn around. I sheepishly walked over to them & explained & apologized for interfering. They all seemed happy to know the info, & immediately turned around & headed up the trail. I’ve no doubt they will have thought the extra steps were worth the view. We loved our hike along the ridge & before too long intersected the trail to take us back down to the 4Runner. Another good Scarp Ridge hike…love this place!
Lake Irwin below us.
We ate lunch at the Last Steep & visited with Kevin at the bar. This burger bar is owned by two brothers from Kansas City & we’ve made friends with them over the years. There’s a third guy I’ve met while here at the Steep a few years ago...their good friend John Bukaty. He’s a performance painter & I’ve been following him & his art ever since. I’d read on Bukaty’s FB page he was going to be painting here this week…as it turns out, one of the times he’d be painting was at the concert in the park tonight. So, that’s where we went after we ate, set up our chairs & listened to some good music by the Wood Brothers & watched Bukaty paint….a perfect night in a perfect place! I love the town concerts so much more than the mountain concerts…there are so many locals that come to to these. The dress is radically different & I always find it funny (but I’m kind of judgmental about it too). It was a really good evening!
John was actually teaching a two night class on performance painters. We watched the students watch & we all watched John paint the band as they played…love his stuff!
These concerts end early, so once back at camp we had the rest of the evening for a campfire & some special beer we bought while at Elevation brewery. It was good beer, but we had to laugh a little about it. The beer was brewed as a fund raiser for Prostate support…complete with the “blue” bow (instead of the pink one for breast cancer). So, it was called Pints for Prostates & the name of the beer was Elevated…it is kind of funny.
day 33….8.1
Today we were hiking Rustlers Gulch…this is the hike Jill & Greg & I started on last week but was turned around by high water & rumors of a big mudslide. This hike is usually filled with wildflowers & I was hopeful they wouldn’t be bloomed out so Danny would get some flower-power during this hike. The water levels look back to normal, so that was a good sign & once we made into the valley, the wildflowers were gorgeous & everywhere! Yay!
This water crossing was raging last week & is where we turned around. We found our normal trail alongside the river & to our normal crossing place….wasn’t difficult at all this time.
Yes! Wildflowers would greet us all along the way up the rest of the trail & up through the valley!
Then we came to the mudslide area which was HUGE but dry. It’s so amazing to see this along the trail….I really wonder what it was like when it happened.
Green Gentian…love this plant & it’s sweet blooms!
Columbines!
Love this photo of Danny & the wildflowers!
Pink & Red Indian Paintbrush!
Lots of leftover mine stuff up here.
Waterfall at the top of the hike.
Hiking happy!
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Tonight was going to be pizza the Secret Stash….I had a slice of Mac & Cheese pizza with a broccoli crust….YUMMMMY! Danny’s slice was with a bunch of different kinds of meat.
We built another campfire, drank some beer we had & enjoyed another wonderful evening after another glorious hike!