It was still raining drizzles when we woke up the first day. We assumed the dirt road is really dirty and muddy. We waited for an hour before we headed off. My JLC’s car is not a four-wheel drive. You gotta have a 4 x 4 car to survive the nasty roads to the mountains. We took risk and used his car, may insurance naman eh. Lolz

True enough, hindi siya nakaakyat. Hahaha. Sa takot ko, bumaba agad ako. Naka tilt na ang sasakyan, katakot.

Nawala kami! The road we took was not the scenic road. Waaaa. Instead of bumping into foxes, deers and elk, we bumped into cows.. tons of them. Hahaha. Asan na ang magandang bundok! Di marecognize ng GPS kung saan kami naroroon at walang cel signal. Nako po! Pero it was all worth it, I got this beautiful photo of a lake (above). I want to own that house!

Yes, I was here a year ago but I’ve completely forgotten where we went. We went back and took another road. Now, I was familiar. It was the right path then, thank goodness.

Most of my photos I took them from the car, moving that is. Ganyan ako katamad. Ang lamig kasi para lumabas ako. Haha. I never used my tripod which is really necessary to get a good picture. Ang bigat kasi! Sabi nga ng photographer friend ko, the tripod is as important as the camera and the lenses. Waaaaa. Patay! I realized that I can never be a good photographer if I am like this.

So anyhoot, sun came out at around 12 NN. So we decided to take a hike. Haha. I am not an outdoor person anymore hindi gaya noong nasa high school pa ako na sumasali ako sa camping at hiking. The hike to Judd falls was tiresome. It was a mile away yet kapagod! Lolz.

The good thing about it was we got a chance to get a beautiful view/angle of Mt. Gothic. Tingnan niyo naman ang outfit ng JLC ko, parang pupunta lang ng mall. Hahaha. It gets really cold, like freezing cold, like negative degree cold in here during winter. This town gets a lot of snow too that is why this is a popular winter destination.

This shot was taken at Judd Falls. Maliit tingnan noh pero malaki yang falls na yan. Parang malapit din tingnan pero malayo yan. Ang JLC ko gusto atang magpakamatay at pumunta tala sa bangin for a good shot. Ang mokong na to, kung mahulog kaya siya diyan? Paano na ako makakauwi, wala na akong driver? Lolz.

After spending a few hours of that part of Crested Butte, we decided to drive to Lake Irwin. We’ve seen pictures of it from the hotel, so we were so determined to get to there. The question now, is how how de carabao?
We drove and drove until we saw a sign going to Lake Erwin. The town is surrounded by hiking trails, biking trails and camping grounds. Parts of Crested Butte are also part of Gunnison National Forrest. Napakalaki ng forrest na itech! I bet not all of it was explored.

The drive to Lake Irwin was just as nice. I planned to stay there until sunset. I want to take a dramatic photo of the lake with the colors of sunset.

When we got there, it was indeed a breathtaking scene. Ang ganda, the serenity of the place was just amazing. There were some people there camping, fishing and kayaking. Ang sarap nilang tingnan.

We did what we came for, take as much photos as we wanted. Medyo pangit lang kasi, there’s not much light.

If there’s one thing I realized in this trip that is the fact that I can never be a photographer..honestly. I have no patience. Hindi ko inantay ang sunset, we headed back to town. Nainip ako at gutom pa. Natakot din ako na baka gabihin kami sa daan pabalik sa town eh hindi pa naman namin kabisado. I should’ve stayed there and waited. They said, thirty to fifteen minutes before sunset is a good time to shoot a perfect photo. Ang JLC ko lang ang nakakuha ng dramatic photo, ito yun(below). Bwahaha.

We headed back to town and interestingly, we found a shop called Mabuhay. We went it and we were right, it was owned by a Filipina. It was more of an antique store with an Asian touch to it. We saw the Filipina owner but I never got a chance to talk to her as she was busy with a customer.

Kumain kami ng dinner at bumalik na sa hotel namin. I ate a big chunk of steak. Gutom na gutom na talga ako. I didn’t care about getting a good shot. They really have good steak over there, it was worth than getting a really nice picture. Hahaha. As I was eating, I was thinking about the cows that we saw from the trip and ask for forgiveness in silence for eating one of their kind. Lolz.

P.S.
You didn’t see any wildflowers, huh? I mean, not enough! I will tell you in the next post. Thanks for reading folks. If you want to read a summary of my trip, please read it in Barrio Siete.

I had to work half of the day last Friday before heading to Crested Butte. I was too nice not to take the whole day off which I could’ve if I wanted to. My JLC and I left at around 1 PM. It was raining, we almost backed out but rooms had been booked, plans had been made, food had been purchased. It was too late to retreat.

We were almost at the Colorado/ New Mexico border when the rain finally stoped. Thank goodness.

The drive alone was fun. It was like a tour of a lifetime.  We passed by a lot of beautiful sceneries. Good thing I was just a passenger, I was able to enjoy them all. Ninamnam ko talaga. Mountains, hills, birds, deers, cows, etc.. were a joyful sight. I really love country life.  You can feel the simplicity and fulfillment.

I took photos kahit umaandar ang sasakyan kaya pagpasensyahan ninyo ang mga shots ko. We couldn’t stop baka maabotan kami ng gabi sa daan. Delikado pa naman kasi hindi namin kabisado. There was a 30-minute winding road at nasa cliff pa. Juice ko day!

It was a non-stop drive to Crested Butte. Ni hindi kami nagstop para umihi. It took us six hours and a half to get to our destination and it was all worth it!

I’ve been here before but I was still awed by its beauty. I couldn’t stop my JLC from uttering words of appreciations the moment we saw the town from a far. He was like “Damn, ang ganda!” Hanggang sa hotel, paglabas ng hotel, ng kumain at pag-uwi sa hotel.. hindi pa rind daw siya makapaniwala na napakanda ng lugar. I tell you, pictures (especially mine) are not enough to justify Crested Butte’s beauty. You have to be there to witness its real beauty.

Crested Butte got its name from Mt. Crested Butte. A butte is a  flattop hill with steep slopes. Mt Crested Butte looks like it has a crest surrounds it, thus the name. The butte is almost located in the middle of the town. This is Mt Crested Butte here, isn’t it a beauty?

We checked in to our hotel and headed out to dinner. We went to the little town. We were surprised, for a town with a population of 1,500, there were a bunch of restaurants. Perhaps, this is to accomodate tourists as well.

There were a lot of beautiful houses surrounding the area. These are mostly vacation houses of wealthy people.

It was a bit cold around 50 degrees Fahrenheit when we got there at 6:30 pm.  I realized that I didn’t bring any jeans/pants at all. Good thing I brought a jacket with me. It is still summer yet in Crested Butte it fells like autumn only the trees are not yet yellow/orange in color. I can live there but only in summer. During winter season, Crested Butte is surrounded by snow. Due to its high elevation, which is 9000+ feet, the lowest temperature was -30 F.

The only downside of this trip was I was two weeks late to capture the wildflowers. There were still some worth taking photos with yet most of them already died like the sunflowers, some of the daisies and the columbines. Huhuhuhu.  Anyhoot, the mountains, the lakes, the rivers were still there. Bwehehe.

Crested Butte is a former coal mining town. Now the town is a popular destination for skiing and snow boarding during the winter; and mountaing biking, hiking, camping and fishing during the summer. If you are not into these sort of outdoor activities like me, you can just visit the town and the surrounding areas for its natural and spectacular beauty.

I was too excited for the next day’s scenic tour that I hit the sacks early. I woke up in the middle of the night only to find out that it was raining…again.

Photo Credits : Moi

See you later, folks! Finally, I am heading to this place.

Meanwhile, you may read my post here on my trip to Crested Butte last year.

Happy Weekend, everyone! Is it weekend yet?:D

Photo credits here.