Abbey's Road

Normally in the mountains the thunderstorms come in the afternoon, but we woke up Friday morning to some nasty ones. I figured the day was going to be shot and I was planning on doing laundry. Even if the weather cleared I didn't think I'd get Abbey out after those storms. By the time I drove into town and found the laundromat the sky was perfectly clear and blue. I decided Abbey, or not, I was going to take advantage of the day and take a hike. Surprisingly by the time I got to the trailhead, about 6 miles outside of Mt. Crested Butte on a dirt road, Abbey seemed anxious to get out of the RV. She was a little slow at first but she did pretty well. I picked the Copper Creek Trail which goes up to Copper Lake and up to East Maroon Pass in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. Eventually you can make it all the way to Aspen from there. While I was filling out a permit at the wilderness boundary two ladies caught up to me and we started talking. One thanked me for having Abbey on a leash. I haven't seen it as much lately, but apparently it is quite common for people to hike with their dogs off-leash, even in wilderness areas where leashes are required. We then got to talking about other wilderness policies. One of the women had apparently been involved on the political end of the Wilderness Act or, at least, the local ramifications thereof, and she started walking a lot faster. It was obvious she wasn't really interested in engaging in the conversation, especially after I made a comment about grazing rights in wilderness areas. The other woman did have some good points about the grazing situation I have to admit so I quickly tempered my comments. I don't think it bothered them, but I probably should've just kept my mouth shut. They were cordial enough the rest of the way though, as we ended up passing each other a few times. The hike was supposed to be 4.5 miles to the lake but it sure seemed longer to me. We finally made it to the lake and I tried to enjoy my lunch while I tried to keep Abbey in one spot. She seemed restless for some reason. When I was just about finished I noticed the two women had passed by the lake and headed up the trail to the pass. I had thought I wouldn't try the pass so as not to push Abbey, but when I saw the actual trail they were taking it didn't seem too bad. So I managed to get Abbey to go on up to the pass and we were rewarded with some real nice views into the Aspen side of the wilderness and the wildflowers were great. I can't believe how many places I've still seen wildflowers this late in the summer. At lower elevations they are definitely on their way out, but at the top of Maroon Pass they were still in full bloom. On the way down I actually met up with 2 more women who had started at the trailhead in Aspen that morning. They were going to stay the night in a hotel in Crested Butte. It sounded like a real nice trip to me. It's funny but the first 3 groups I met on that trail were all groups of 2 middle-aged women. I was beginning to wonder what was up with this trail when I finally met some groups of couples and families. I did manage to get my laundry done when we got back to town, but not until after I had a great hike on a beautiful day. Luckily, there were no more storms that day. At least not any that we could hear which is all that counted.
View from Copper Creek Trail
Copper Lake
On top of Maroon Pass
I really like the mountains around Crested Butte, and the town itself too. It is surrounded by wilderness so there is a lot of hiking, and there are also a lot of mountain biking trails. There must also be good dirt bike and ATV trails too. I think I was there during dirt bike week or something, because they were everywhere. Luckily they weren't near any of the trails I was on. I only saw them going into and out of town.

I thought I'd better give Abbey a rest on Saturday as she was real tired after Friday's hike and I worry about her leg. I was originally planning on doing a hike near where we went the day before, but I got up a little late and didn't really feel like making that long drive into and through town on some long, bumpy dirt roads. So, I found a trail right near the campground and tried that. After a short while it was obvious that it wasn't really going in the direction I wanted, but I kept on it anyways. I didn't make it to the pass I was hoping to, but the trail did surprise me with some nice views of the mountains in the Raggeds Wilderness. Plus I got to eat my lunch in peace and relax as long as I wanted since I didn't have Abbey there pushing to go. Later I got something to eat in town because I was too tired to cook and felt like I was coming down with a cold. I went to bed early, but the next morning when I woke up I realized I did have a cold. I really hate summer colds because unlike winter it's so nice out I never want to sit inside and rest. Besides, I don't want to sit in the RV all day. So I drove on to Ouray and Silverton hoping I would feel better soon.
Lake Irwin - next to campground
West Elk Wilderness in background
View of the Raggeds Wilderness
Pinnacle Peak (I think)