Labor Day in Crested Butte

We may have used COVID as an excuse to road trip all over Colorado this year, which also led us our new favorite place in the state, Crested Butte! While we thought Crested Butte would be a great winter destination for skiing, it may even be better in the summer. Our long weekend adventure was over Labor Day weekend, which resulted in crazy traffic getting to Crested Butte and coming home. The 4.5 hour drive became a 6-7 hour slog of sitting on 285 on the way up and I-70 on the way back. We tried two different routes and both were jam packed with cars escaping the heat in Denver.

Despite the terrible drive we truly enjoyed Crested Butte. The town was touristy but still had the old mining feel and the views were incredible. To top it off there are tons of hiking options from easy hikes along rivers to strenuous hikes up mountain peaks. We really liked Ridgway and Ouray from our earlier southwest Colorado road trip but Crested Butte may be our new favorite place in Colorado.

Our Trip to Southwest Colorado

Well 2020 is an interesting year to say the least, but Beth and I had a chance to escape some of the chaos with a road trip to Southwest Colorado. Visiting Ouray, Telluride, Durango, Mesa Verde, and the Black Canyon has been on our bucket list since moving to Colorado over three years ago. While Beth and I usually do some grand trip out of the country in the summer, COVID provided a very valid excuse to stay close to home. It also let us bring our dog, Spruce, on the adventure!

Our ten day trip started in late July as we blasted down I-70 towards Grand Junction. We visited the Colorado National Monument and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Parks on the way to our first stop in Ridgway, Colorado where we stayed for four nights. From Ridgway we did plenty of hiking and explored the surrounding area including Telluride and Ouray. After Ridgway we ventured further south passing through Silverton and Durango to stay close to Vallecito Lake for three nights. The idea here was to relax at the lake and drive to Mesa Verde National Park. Our final stop was in South Fork for two nights to relax along the Rio Grande River and get a final hike in at nearby Creede. The entire trip encompassed over 1,000 miles of driving just in Colorado!

We just spent a nice long weekend in Winter Park, Colorado to enjoy the fall colors, hike, and visit Rocky Mountain National Park to see the Elk rut! There are many great fall activities to enjoy within an hour of Winter Park, here are a few:

• Take the gondola up at the Winter Park Ski Resort, ride down the alpine slide, or take on the mini golf course.
• Grab some delicious food at nearby Winter Park (the town) or Fraser.
• Hike a couple of the nearby trails such as Jim’s Creek, St Louis Creek, or Broome Hut for the fall colors.
• Take a scenic drive to Hot Sulphur springs to see the aspens changing colors, drive through the scenic Byer’s Canyon, and take a dip in the hot springs.
• Stop by Grand Lake for the great views of the water and for some yummy food.
• Drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park to see the dramatic scenery and the Elk rut which happens only in the fall.

For our visit some of our family was also able to join and we all had a wonderful time. We stayed just across the street from the ski resort at a condo with a hot tub and great views. Fall is great time to come to Winter Park as accommodations prices are significantly cheaper than peak season and there are almost no other tourists. However, one thing that is not predictable is what the weather will be like in Colorado in the fall especially in the mountains. We were extremely fortunate to have sunny and 60 degree days the entire time during the beginning of October. To make it even better many of the aspen trees were peaking in color.

After spending a couple of glorious days in Stoupa, Greece we ventured towards our next stop in the Peloponnese. Our next stop was to stay at the wonderful Westin Costa Navarino which is a two hour drive from Stoupa. To break up the drive we did a minor detour to hike and swim at the Polylimnio Waterfalls. The waterfalls were more than just a detour and were one of our highlights of our 2019 European trip. One of the best parts is that the waterfalls are free for everyone, you just need to drive there.

The Polylimnio waterfalls consists of 15 beautiful teal lakes, many of which have waterfalls. This is hike is not like anything you have experienced before. It is like walking through a teal tea garden in paradise. The hike itself is short, but technical and intense at times. Bring good hiking sandals as you will want good traction and your feet will get wet as you hike. As we climbed up the waterfalls we decided to jump into two of the larger lakes. The water was freezing, but it was worth it!

While my personal travel went on the back-burner the first half of this year I have been traveling a lot for work (Beth and I are moving to Denver, Colorado soon! More on that later!). A couple of these work trips were to the Reno, Nevada area and I couldn’t resist not visiting beautiful Lake Tahoe nearby and do some hiking. I was able to get in a couple hikes after work and before sunset while visiting the Reno area. Sunset was around 8:30 PM so I had just about 2 hours to get some hiking in before dark.