September 27, 2013 - More Rain But Also Some Fall Color

After a yummy pizza dinner in Rifle, getting into Carbondale after dark, and driving up to our camp site on a rocky, rutted road to set ourselves up for a sunrise shoot of Mount Sopris, we collapsed into bed with hopes for better photography . . . only to have those hopes dashed as we heard the rain in the early morning.  By 5 am, out of concern for the road condition, we got up and headed out.  Glad we did because we slid a good portion of the way down, even after putting the truck in Low 4-wheel drive and the lowest gear possible.  The road being on a steep hillside made the descent quite exhilarating.

Bleary-eyed, frustrated, grubby, and just fed up, we made our way to our favorite coffee shop in Carbondale, Bonfire Coffee, to regroup and plan.  Bag it all and go home?  Hang around and hope for the best?  Go back up to Wyoming and the Beartooths?  After a few cups of coffee and some food, we decided that the best thing was to get a shower and see what the weather is like and go from there.

We headed south To Redstone where there is a USFS  campground that had solar showers with hot water.  While Rick was getting his shower I got chewed out by the campground host for using the campground without reservng a campground site.  Understandable, so I offered to reserve one of the many empty campsites and pay, but the host refused, simply saying that we should not do that anymore.  Understood, but don't you want a campground fee anyway?  Apparently not.

We moved on, clean but a little chagrined, and armed with the knowledge that today would be a rainy and snowy day.  Nonetheless we decided to plug away and began driving up McClure Pass toward Paonia, hoping that the pass had some color . . . which it didn't.  The aspen was green, green, green.  Also, the clouds rolled in.

Some Colorful Aspen in Snow on Kebler Pass

By the time we turned off onto Kebler Pass to make our way to Crested Butte there was a rain/snow mix.  On top of that, the roads were muddy and slick.  BIG sigh.  Despite the disappointment, Rick took it fairly well and decided to hang out for a couple of nights as the weather was suppose to clear that evening.  So we reserved a campground site at Lost Lake on Kebler Pass for two nights (had to leave a note and check on the host's doorstep as he was gone at the time and kept our fingers crossed that there would be no mix up like at Teton) and moved on toward Crested Butte through the mud and snow.

Fall Colors from Gothic Rd

Views from Gothic Road

When we got to Town, we decided to go check out the road to Gothic, recomended by one of Rick's photog friends, Jimmy, for fall colors.  We turned up the road and . . . lo and behold we had Fall Color and it was gorgeous!  As it was Friday the roads weren't too busy so we took our time going up the road to the small Town of Gothic, known for its Rocky Mountain Research Station.

The Rustic Town of Gothic at 10K ft elevation

Gothic Mountain to the southwest of the town and road is a striking formation with aspen color and the East River winding past it.  The clouds kept moving in and out carrying with them periodic snow squalls but, nonetheless, this had the potential to be a good sunrise spot.

Gothic Mountain from Washington Gulch Road

We then decided to explore the next drainage over, Washington Gulch, which showed us the opposite side of Gothic Mountain.  This side was even more striking in color thanks to not just the aspen but also the scrub oak so this turned into a possible sunset spot. 

By this time it was around 5:00 pm and we thought we had better make our way back to our campsite on Kebler Pass.  As we were getting ready to go, a snowstorm of considerable sized moved in, giving us cause to pause.  Did we really want to make our way up the pass, on an already muddy and slick mountain road, in the midst of a snowstorm? 

Some Pretty Fall Colors from Washington Gulch

Since Rick was doing the driving, the decision was primarily his but I wholeheartedly agreed with him when he said that he'd prefer not to make the journey and that we just get a hotel in town . . . which is exactly what we did.  We ended up staying at a very nice place called the Mountain Lodge Resort just up the hill fro Crested Butte proper.  It turned out to be a great treat as we ended up taking the shuttle bus (and old school bus painted in outrageous colors) into town for a delicious Italian dinner at Bachanale.  Yummy deep-fried Risotta balls, steak (for Rick), arugula/prosciutto/fontina flatbread pizza for me and a delicious olive oil flourless almond/orange torte with chocolate frosting, not to mention some very good wine pairings.  Took the shuttle back to the hotel and gratefully sank down into a warm comfortable bed.  For a day that started out so cruddy, it ended remarkably well.