Our "nest" is located in Butte Ranch, about 3 miles from downtown Crested Butte. The white poles at the end of our drive are posted for the snowplow......they are also along the highways.....and they are THAT high because the snow is THAT high!!!!! (approximately 8') Glad we are here in the "off" season.....which is not winter and not summer, as we learned the hard way yesterday.....Kebler Pass doesn't open till June. You would think that the personnel in the Visitor's Center would know that! The following three pictures are taken from our living room which is all glass....it feels like you are sitting outside!
Simply stunning
We are another 1,000 feet in altitude from Gunnison. It was a gradual climb over the course of 30 miles. No wonder we are a bit breathless, headachy and slight bloody noses.
The four buildings in the forefront are the schools, K-12. Note the density of housing behind the schools. Many of the children walk to school. The families live on the outskirts of town. Not many live in town....
Quite a claim to fame!! Crested Butte is 130 years young!
This quaint real estate is not cheap! Most of what you see is either commercial or investment property. And most of it is original.....over 100 years old! We could have rented a house downtown, but preferred to have more "space".
Tony's Conoco was the gas station, now a hardware store.....famous for its pot belly stove where locals would gather to socialize. The fan is there because they are refinishing the floors. We noticed that many stores and restaurants were doing the same thing, i.e., refinishing the floors. Others were painting....prepping for "the season" which is July and August. Crested Butte has skiing but pales in comparison to Vail, Aspen, Telluride, Breckinridge.....and the locals want to keep it that way!
These signs were posted wherever parking was near a building.
There were patches snow all over town....this is MAY!! No wonder Kebler Pass was closed!
The "City" Hall.....rather than the Town Hall?
There are three rivers in the area. Don't know which one this is, but it was rushing and gushing.....wish we had audio with this picture.
The following day, snow/rain is in the forecast.....where is our view? We could see the storm rolling in.....but no snow, no rain....just a bit of excitement!
A few hours later it cleared...........
Notice how low the clouds are....virtually resting on top of the roof!!
Here it comes again....the next day....the wind was so strong it blew the porch chairs away. We retrieved them and put them in the garage.
You have to squint, look hard, but there it is....SNOW on May 19!!! I'm sure we were the only people for miles around who were excited!
We didn't get out much the last two days.....we could blame it on the weather, but truthfully, we were delighted to stay inside and catch up on some sleep, paperwork and relaxation. Crested Butte is worth another visit!!
