2021 Summer in Colorado

After one year and eight months, we returned to our summer/winter playground Colorado. 

We anticipated this trip so much that we self quarantined the week before. Kids were taken out of camp. Will and I continued working from home and managing the energetic two. We were counting on the RMBL outdoor camp to give us some break. The night before our long car ride, we received the email that cancelled the RMBL camp because of the rising Covid cases. We were both saddened by this news and had to rethink our trip plan because of this big change. 

We took Friday afternoon off and booked Hyatt Place Amarillo for the night. This six hour drive was not too bad in hindsight compared to Saturday's drive. We left home around 1:30 and arrived at 7:30 at the hotel. We had to potty stop every hour and that created a little delay. I brought dinner with us and we ate at the hotel room. We were very careful about this recent Delta trend and avoided any chances to be in a closed space with other people. 

We started our Saturday drive around 8:30 and Norah complained about her stomach pain early on. We planned a stop at Capulin Volcano national monument so the kids could stretch their legs. It's about 3 hours from Amarillo. We all liked this well managed national monument. We even got to see the sun through a special telescope. Hiking at this elevation was tiring but gave us a chance to acclimate. This stop didn't help ease Norah's upset stomach. We thought she was hungry so we stopped by Trinidad's Mcdonald's for lunch. Norah felt worse after lunch and threw up in the car. The next four hours were very hard. Will did a bit reading and it seems Norah is starting at age 5 to have motion sickness. She asked me multiple times how she survived the last many rides to Colorado. The answer is probably that she wasn't motion sick back almost two years ago. 

Capulin Volcano National Mounument

We arrived at our rental house around 5:30 after a grocery stop at Gunnison. Our house is in the Pitchfork neighborhood of Mt Crested Butte. This neighborhood is at the outskirts of the mountain town and is about half a mile from the mountain square. We love our house. It is well managed, decorated super well and just the right size for our family. We have the best view from the kitchen table -- an unobstructed mountain range extends in front of us. I often felt we were camping in the open air. The house has three levels -- Will and I stayed in the basement master suite, Jackson and Norah each had their own room on the ground floor. 

View from our kitchen window

Love our surf shack

We started our Sunday (8/8) with very low expectations. Norah still had an upset stomach and refused to leave the house. Jackson complained about altitude sickness and resisted taking a walk with us. Somehow a miracle happened -- Will convinced them to go on a hike to look for boulders to climb. We zigzagged through some neighborhood streets and arrived at the trailhead for the Upper Loop Trail at the end of Hunter Hill Rd. With the hope of seeing big boulders, we hiked on and on ... for about 2 miles. The view was spectacular, wild flowers blooming, bees buzzing and mountains nearby. Smoke continued to obscure the further views during our stay but it didn't bother us too much. 

We finally arrived at our destination -- Skyland Boulders (just pass the intersection with Tony's trail). I felt I was in a French children's book (Little Chickens) that I read to Jackson a lot when he was little. It is about a group of friends' adventure in a boulder forest. And the book has been turned into reality here. (Funnily Will said the online description of this place mentioned this reminds them of a French children's book setting) Both kids played and climbed with the whole field to themselves. Will returned from the trail and planned to pick us up from Tony's trailhead. 

Our hike was extended to the town since Will realized that Tony's trail was on private property and no vehicle allowed. Two kids ended up hiking about 4 miles from Mt CB to CB. We were super proud. We stopped by the Sunday Farmer's market to grab a jar of local wildflower honey. I was glad I experienced the farmer's market in CB. It was vibrant and lovely, although not many people were in masks.

At quiet time, Will went to biked Lupine 1 & 2 and then the Lower Loop trail. Three of us picked him up at Peanut Lake. He found a creek access at the Gunsight Bridge over Slate River. We drove to the creek after the pickup. Both kids loved playing in the river. Norah called her walking up the river an adventure and wanted to further her journey way up stream. 

Monday (8/9) Will planned a family bike ride on Lower Loop Trail after he scouted it out the day before. Climbing uphill on a bike at high altitude is hard for me. And it was much harder for Norah since her bike doesn't have gears. We managed the lower loop trail and stopped at the Gunsight bridge. Will checked out the GB Loop while the two kids played in the water again. A fisherman told us about a pond two minutes down the stream. Jackson went on an adventure to find the pond. 

Will and Jackson decided to take the Upper Lower Loop Trail back and recommended Slate River Trail for me and Norah. I followed the CBGtrail APP but the trail started to get less defined. It turned from a gravel road along the river to a high grass covered path to swampy footsteps. I looked carefully at the map and the supposed river crossing was no longer there. We were faced with the difficult decision on whether to go back and start over or to power through the swamps. At that moment, I saw Will and Jackson. I yelled for his attention and he guided us back to the Lower Loop Trail. And that involved me crossing a knee deep creek with Norah and two bikes. Will and Jackson's Upper Lower Loop Train was also hard. Nevertheless, all four of us returned to the car with a new personal record for Norah -- 5 miles biking. 

Will rode Snodgrass Trail from the rental property (Mt. Crested Butte).  Another fun trail, although not as good as Lupine (maybe because he had to climb).  Next time consider a lift from the town shuttle. 

After the kids' quiet time, Will took us to check on the ski mountain base area, and then enjoyed the fitness area on the Gothic side of Mt. Crested Butte. (Ted Scheske Park) This is also the town hall of Mt Crested Butte. Amazing tennis courts and small gardens there -- bring our rackets next time!

Tuesday (8/10) We headed to Mt Princeton Hot Springs. It's a two hours drive from CB. After taking Benadryl, Norah seemed to be okay with the drive. 

 I have been wishing for a visit there for a long time. It is a big resort with multiple choices of soak. I loved their creekside hot spring. Hot water came from the bottom and cold creek water flowed over it. This year the runoff is strong so the water is very cold. But if you dug your feet in the sand to feel the heat, the creekside temperature is just right. 

We started our visit there with the family pool area. It has a 400 ft water slide and three separate soaking areas. After eating lunch from the food truck on site, both kids started to really enjoy this beautiful thermal waterpark. I went to check out the other soaking places like the bathhouse and creekside. 

I really loved the creekside experience and took the rest of the family to enjoy this natural wonder. Jackson and Norah loved jumping on the big rocks that defined the soaking border. 

On the way back, Will did a little jeeping off the Jack's Cabin Cutoff.   

Wednesday (8/11) was supposed to be a hiking day with a small amount of jeeping. We left home with a small amount of snacks and planned to be back for lunch. We drove Brush Creek Road/Pearl Pass Road to the Twin Lakes Trailhead.  The Jeep trail portion of this trip was much longer than Will expected (It took us about 1.5 hours from the Bush Creek Trailhead to twin lakes Trailhead) and at Will's comfort limit with the Grand Cherokee (not past it though).  There was a large parking  area at the trailhead (just past the stream). We arrived at the trailhead about 10:40 and didn't see anybody during our drive. We saw many happy cows in the aspen forests. 

We hiked the Twin Lakes trail all the way to the lakes.  This was about 6 miles roundtrip, with the steepest sections right at the beginning.  The scenery was fantastic and we only saw 1 other hiking group the whole day (they told us there was an old plane wreck just past the lakes, but we didn't go that far). The next valley up the Pearl Pass Road also has a trail which might be worth checking out. We gained about 1500ft elevation and it took us about 4 hours. We were impressed with our two kids' hiking ability as it was a hard hike for us since it started at 10,500ft. Norah ran the second section of the hike. She didn't have hiking shoes so going downhill was difficult for her on the way back. We felt this was the starting point that our kids could come hiking with us. And this feels so good!

I loved the high pine tree forest on this trail right before we went above the treeline. It was a mushroom kingdom. My fascination with foraging kept my pace very slow checking out so many different mushrooms. However, I don't recognize much of the edibles. Hawk's wing is a type that a beginner could recognize since no other poison mushroom looks like it. Maybe I will sign up for a foraging class next time coming to Colorado.

Thursday (8/12) Today is the day to summit Mt Crested Butte. We have all been looking forward to it -- kids with the lift ride and us with the hiking and view. We waited till today because of the low visibility from the smoke. We started early and rode the lift around 8:30 to the peak trail. There was only one group of hikers ahead of us. The trail is one mile up. Half of the climb is easy and in the forests, the other half needs more bouldering skills. We saw many pikas and marmots in between the rock spaces. Jackson named pika one of the 72 cutest animals. Slowly and steadily, we all made it to the peak! Trail got crowded by the time we descended. Early start was a wise decision. 

In the afternoon, Will and Jackson went to try the downhill mountain biking from the Red Lady Chairlift. Norah and I took it easy and played Monopoly Deal at home then headed to the Townhall Playground. After dinner, we went to Gothic for a photography session. Gothic left such a great image in my head that I have wanted to go back. We found a parking spot just past the Judd Fall trailhead. The creek is right by and accessible.  Both kids loved this after dinner excursion. 

Friday (8/13) We hiked Rustler Gulch today. A little past Judd Fall trailhead, a jeep road runs about 1.1 mile to the trailhead. This trail is the perfect setting for our family -- Jeep took care of the extra portion and the trail runs about 4 mile one way. Our goal is the waterfall. The hike took us into the valley with majestic views. The climb is not as steep as the Twin Lake Trail. Our destination was a little longer than we expected (3.6mile). Jackson and Norah made their personal record again to a 7.2 mile alpine hike. 

The waterfall destination was a little misleading since we didn't get close to the waterfall. It is more like a view of the waterfall. We also saw the first patch of snow up close on this trip. Snow motivated Norah to hike uphill very fast.  After we arrived at our lunch spot (a big rock), two kids refused to move any more. Will went to the end of the trail which is only ~0.3 mile more. 

This hike has many creek crossings which made it more fun for the kids. There was one of the big creek crossings that required them to take off their shoes. We counted a total of 14 big and small crossings. Not to mention the crossings that our jeep had to make. Will ranked it as his favorite family hike, mainly for the beautiful view with a relatively short hike and short jeep road.

We took the Scofield Pass route home, going through the paradise divide to Elkton. The view is spectacular. We saw many camping tents on the route. 

 

Saturday (8/14) is our transit day. We took a walk around the Pitchfork neighborhood while Daddy packed up. We were able to check out at 9:30am. (check out time is 10am) We absolutely loved our house at CB. I rent through Alpine Property Management at 206 Horseshoe Dr. We would rent this house again in the summer. We concluded that this house is too far away from the lift in the winter. 

We did a pleasant drive from CB to Montrose and met up with Grandparents. We love their new motorhome. After a couple of shopping trips, we eagerly checked into our house in Colona (78 Snowy Peak Dr.) at 4:10pm. (check in time is 4pm) Our house sits on a 5 acre land and I was looking forward to some photography opportunities onsite. But with the bad air quality and junks on property, I was not able to compose a good photo. And another lesson learned -- do not rent a property without AC in August at Montrose elevation. 

Sunday (8/15) Grandparents picked up the kids at 9am. Will and I got to do a long hike with just the two of us. We chose the Bridge of Heaven trail from the mine tour road. It was supposed to be a 8 mile hike but when we drove close to the trailhead, there was a road closure sign. We ended up hiking 11.5 miles back and forth. Hike was beautiful and the view at the top was breathtaking. The only thing is that this area seemed very dry. We didn't have any creek crossings and lakes. I would rate this trail 4 stars the same as hikingwalking.com. 

There was a  bit of exposure that had Will a touch nervous coming down.  Would be better with poles and not a kid friendly hike.  The road to the trailhead was closed, so we added 1.1 miles each way to the hike on the road.  The "closed" status of this road is a bit murky -- we probably could have driven up it and been fine.  There is a parking lot at the trailhead.  If you're not going to drive up the road, it would be interesting to investigate the Old Horsethief trailhead.

Monday (8/16) Grandpa had to stay back for a motorhome technician. 5 of us headed to Ouray Hot Springs in the morning. Jackson wanted to do the slides and obstacle courses. Norah was not eligible so she was not happy about this visit beforehand. Rain and lightning interrupted our visit for about half an hour. Other than that, both kids and mommy loved the hot spring soaking. We stayed till 3:30pm. Note that the slide and obstacle course didn't open until noon and that bringing outside food into the pool area is OK

We all enjoyed several games of Chase the Aces before dinner at our rental home.

Tuesday (8/17)  was our jeeping day. I was concerned about Norah's motion sickness and considered staying back with her.  But we decided to stay with our original plan. We drove through Red mountain pass (US basin) to Silverton. (US41) Stopped at Yankee Girl Mine and a beautiful glade for lunch break. We enjoyed ice cream and train watching at Silverton. On the way back, Norah complained about stomach pain and claimed that she wouldn't do the jeep ride again.  

Wednesday (8/18) 

I found an alpaca ranch 3 minutes from our house that offered farm tours. I booked an hour tour Wednesday from 9am to 10am. Flying Iron Ranch is a working alpach ranch and 30 acres. It is owned by a Dallas doctor. It's setup is idyllic with mountains surrounding the ranch. Alpacas are so cute. We got to feed them and kids even got to walk them. 

After the alpaca visit, we headed to Wetterhorn Basin hike. The drive is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Colona, with the last 1.5 mile rocky and slow. This side of the mountain felt much wetter with creek crossings and we found the columbine here! In CB and Ouray, we were told the season was over. Apparently it is cooler here and we were treated with Columbine's beauty. We stopped at a creek for a lunch break. Jackson claimed it is the best lunch spot ever.  Will and I hiked 1.5 miles in. 

Thursday (8/19)

We started at 7:14am at Colona and arrived home at 11:14pm. Drive time 14:14 and total time 15 hours exactly. We ate lunch in the car and took Chick-fil-a to go for dinner. Both kids did extremely well, netflix videos helped.