Utah & Grand Canyon North Rim - Part IV (Oct 5 - 9, 2020)

Continued from Part III...

After a very full week of hiking and driving, we took the entire day off on October 5 to rest and plan for a leisurely and scenic "take the long way" home.

Tuesday morning we left Kanab early and headed toward Page. We made it to Horseshoe Bend while the morning light was still decent. We had been there while staying in Page a few years before the area was developed and admission was charged, but the facilities were most welcome! 

Horseshoe Bend, near Page, Arizona

We stayed in Cortez so that Wednesday morning we could run Ophir Pass again. This is one of our favorite 4WD roads with tons of bang for the buck. We came up through Dolores and Rico on scenic Highway 145 and turned off onto D65 and went through the tiny village of Ophir before switching Moby into 4x4 low range and driving up through the still-colorful aspen. 

The views open up as we started to get above treeline

Looking back down on the village of Ophir from near the top of Ophir Pass

A jeep heads down the narrow shelf road we just came up

We spent a little extra time near the top of the pass visiting with the local Pika.

An American Pika (ochotona princeps) busily gathers plants for his haypile

Our 4Runner "Moby" about to head down the east side of Ophir Pass

Running Ophir pass from west to east brings us out on Highway 550 aka the Million Dollar Highway, where we turned north towards Ouray. 

Town of Ouray

Driving past Ouray where we would spend the night, we went on to explore the area around Owl Creek Pass in the Uncompahgre Mountains. This is a fabulous spot in the fall and we can’t wait to go back and do more. 

The drive up to Owl Creek Pass is gorgeous, even if the aspen was a little past prime

We stopped in several places to walk around in the aspen groves, scoping out trails we might want to hike next time. 

We took a short 4x4 trail to Rowdy Lake, too. And we found so much to explore on the other side of Owl Creek Pass: Silver Jack Reservoir, East, Middle, and West Forks of the Cimarron River, Courthouse Rock, and much more!

Rowdy Lake

Chimney Rock

After Owl Creek Pass, we checked into our hotel in Ouray, and ate our "dinner" out of the ice chest, and turned in early. 

On Thursday morning, even though we were an easy day’s drive back to Dillon, we decided to take another day to explore Curecanti National Recreation Area and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, so we planned to stay overnight in Gunnison. 

We walked down to the Morrow Point Dam, then hiked the canyon west along a sweet path loaded with colorful Gambel Oak. 

Susan below the Morrow Point Dam on the Gunnison River

We hike on the Mesa Creek Trail, below the dam

Mike, near the end of the short hike down the river

On our way out we checked out the very nicely done Cimarron Canyon Rail Exhibit.

Locomotive and cars from the Denver & Rio Grande Western on display near Morrow Point

After stopping at Morrow Point, we went on down the road towards Blue Mesa Reservoir. Our plan was to hike out to the Dillon Pinnacles, but it was just a little too hot for us that day so we’ll have to go back. We did hike out a mile or two for a nice leg stretch.

Looking over Blue Mesa Reservoir with the Pinnacles in the distance

The trail out to the Pinnacles

The Pinnacles

After an easy day, we stopped in Gunnison for the night. We went into town to get dinner to bring back to the hotel, and found that one of our favorite brewpubs, High Alpine Brewing Co., had a large open garage door open to the street. So, for the first time since March, we ate at a restaurant, instead of doing takeout. 

Ready to eat!

The next morning we drove up toward Crested Butte, and turned off to take scenic Cottonwood Pass. We stopped along the pass to hike up to Lost Lake. Very pretty hike, and only a bit over 3 miles with only 400 ft of gain. A bonus for us was seeing pika its habitat right at the edge of the lake. 

Along the trail to Lost Lake

An unnamed tarn we detoured to on the way up

Pano of Lost Lake

Lost Lake -- the talus field at center left is where we observed the pika

Last look at Lost Lake before we headed back down the trail to the car

After the hike, we drove on to Dillon via Buena Vista, Fairplay, and Breckenridge. What a fun trip!

Colorado Fall Color 2013 Part III: Crested Butte (Oct 1-15)

On this, our third trip to Crested Butte, the area began to feel a bit like home away from home.

The fall color view of Mt Whetstone from our condo on October 2nd, just south of Crested Butte

[Click on any image to enlarge it.]

We returned to many of our favorite haunts and hikes, and tried a few new ones. Pizza at the Secret Stash is as good as always at their new location, but just to be sure, we ate there twice. The Crested Butte Film Festival was just over but we caught Dear Governor Cuomo during the After Fest at the Center for the Arts, Crested Butte. We shopped in "Gunny" and saw Gravity in 3D at the Ruby Cinema on the Western State Colorado University campus. We even have a dentist in town now.

We watched fall color come and go, and the mountain peaks were white with snow before we headed home. Here are a some pictures from some of our favorite places while we were on "CB time".

Mount Beckwith along Kebler Pass

Kebler Pass

In addition to the drive across this aspen loaded area as we arrived at CB, we did the Horse Ranch Park Loop hike. This was an excellent extension (5 miles total) to the HRP viewpoint hike we did in 2011.

Aspen grove along the road in Kebler Pass

Aspen color from viewpoint at Cliff Creek trailhead on Kebler Pass road

Late day light along Kebler Pass

Mt Beckwith from the Horse Ranch Park trail

Horse Ranch Park viewpoint

Susan along the trail

Ohio Pass

We had a very pleasant morning photo excursion at some great roadside viewpoints of aspens and the Castles.

iPhone panorama of the Ohio Pass viewpoint

A favorite view from the talus slope along Ohio Pass road

The "Castles" from Ohio Pass road

Our fun watching for pikas on the opposite hillside ended with Petey Pika meeting a real pika. He keeps asking to watch Pinocchio now.

Probably the closest a pika has ever approached us; he seemed curious

Petey Pika makes a new friend  :-)

Working our way through a cattle drive, we drove further down Ohio pass Road and hiked to Mill Creek. A huge bang for the buck in just 2.5 easy miles round trip. I look forward to birding here during spring migration.

Ohio Pass traffic jam

At the Mill-Castle trailhead

Very interesting rock formations similar to "the Castles"

Along the trail

Panoramic view of the Mill-Castle hike (click image to enlarge)

Washington Gulch

Mike did a hike called No Name Hike, or hike number 31 in our hiking guide, and came back beaming and anxious to share it with me. Steep but only 1 mile round trip, he had 360 degree views. 

Crested Butte, viewed from the No Name "summit"

Panorama from the No Name summit

Another view from the summit

On another day, we tried to go up together but were turned around by snow .4 of a mile before the trailhead at almost 11,000 feet. Still, it was a beautiful drive.

The road going up to Washington Gulch

Crested Butte Mountain

Some private trails in the community where we stayed offer convenient hiking through mostly Aspen forests and around Lake Grant. 

Lake Grant

Common Mergansers flying in to Lake Grant

Eared Grebes

Aspen reflections on Lake Grant

These trails connect with popular local hiking and mountain biking trails at the base of CB mountain, leading into town via Tony's Trail, or up to Mount Crested Butte via the Upper Trail, or further west via the Upper Upper Trail or Whetstone Trail. These lower elevation hikes are good for spring or late fall hiking, and we especially enjoyed the carpet of yellow leaves. I think we're going to want bicycles on our next visit.

Along the trail near Mt Crested Butte

We hiked up to Mount Crested Butte, then down on the paved bike trail which ended at a wetlands area, continuing together as far as Rainbow Park, a nicely maintained city park, for a total of about 6 miles. While not wilderness hiking, these walks are very pretty and provide interesting perspectives looking down at CB and surrounds.

Mountain bikers on the way down the trail to CB

Along the trail to Grant Lake

I headed west into town to window shop while Mike walked an additional 3 miles back home. He drove back into town a bit later and made a new friend at Townie Bookstore while waiting for me.

Continued in Part IV...