With A Moo Moo Here

Denver Trip...part 3.

Destination: Crested Butte, Kebler Pass, Black Canyon
Total Miles: 300 miles (round trip, approximate)
Total Cost: Maybe $50? gas and food?

The wonderful thing about camping is the minuscule amount of sleep your body can function on.

After a cold night, filled with a strange dream and lots of tossing and turning, I was awake by some unknown time. (The reason for not knowing the time was because I had lent my phone to David and Hudson at bedtime and forgotten to retrieve it.) Fortunately, Caroline was up too, so we took a brisk walk around the campground to warm ourselves up.

-It should be noted that during this walk, on which I had no camera, we spotted three bucks and a doe meandering through the campground.

To be quite truthful, I was so cold that I couldn't bring myself to change out of my sweatpants and sweatshirt. But, having been reassured that they would still be my friends even if I wore the same clothes for over 24 hours, I proceeded to put on an extra layer in hopes of warming myself back to a somewhat normal temperature.

Breakfast was a heartwarming affair...literally. Hot chocolate was in order, and life began to look brighter.

As I sipped my hot cocoa, I saw a movement in the trees behind us. Whatever the creature, it was larger than the deer! I momentarily got excited that I was perhaps seeing some live elk...but it was not to be. A loud "MOO!" came from the general direction, and cows could be seen wandering up the hillside through the trees.

 After breakfast, our merry band set off early in search of adventure.

While construction slowed us down, and we missed a couple turns, we were able to find the road that led to Crested Butte. Inching our way up the dirt path that hugged the hill, I saw in the distance a large black speck, moving towards us.

As we continued on, the speck grew and separated into many larger specks. Two cowboys, true Western cowboys (complete with horses, cowboy hats and boots), were herding cows down the road straight toward us! Caroline pulled the car as far over as she could, and we waited out the herd. Of course, after they passed and we had driven up the road a short distance, we saw the sign: "Caution: Livestock on Highway." No kidding. Moo, moo!

Crested Butte was amazing! We stopped at the Visitor's Center and were given directions to a "nice drive" over Kebler Pass. The views included not only the mountains but also beautiful aspen trees which lined sections of the drive.

Caroline taught me how to downshift, and after we had left the pass, I took a turn driving. For lunch we had opted to stop at Black Canyon. In lieu of my not being able to visit the Grand Canyon this year, I was excited to see the canyon and take in the sheer cliffs and boulders that made up this particular canyon.

The boys took this opportunity to throw rocks off the side...which we learned later was not permitted due to the possibility of hikers below. Lunch at the canyon consisted of sandwiches, Pringles, and cookies.

The remainder of our road trip took us back to the Taylor Reservoir. The views along the way were breathtaking. Definitely somewhere I would like to go back and explore again someday!


Back at camp, we ate some more soup...this time it was clam chowder. Not light. The kids and I played some Phase10 dice, then we all opted to take a walk. The boys and I ended up going all the way down to the lake...where, true to form, they began throwing rocks into the water and skipping pebbles across the waves.

All too soon, the sun began to set behind the mountains, and (after some more hot chocolate) we settled in for another cold night...

(Part 4 of the Denver Trip coming soon! Stay tuned!)