We are here in Crested Butte for a week, staying in the home of a friend. Here is how our week is going:
Friday: we arrived in the afternoon, loaded up on groceries and just relaxed at the house. And did about four loads of laundry.
Saturday: we had a slow start in the morning. We found an easy hike right in town called the Lower Loop trail. While James hiked with the kids (Molly decided to bike), I took the chance to do some running. I planned to do two loops but got lost and ran around and just enjoyed the scenery. The views were incredible, I ended up getting about 15 miles in. Near the end of our hike it started raining like crazy and even some hail. I was running down the road and found James and the kids hiding out in a little shelter. I took the keys and ran to get the car. The weather in the mountains moves in and out so quickly. Definitely something to consider for my race. The kids had an ok hike. We parked too far from the trailhead so they weren't on the trail too much. They found the slate River and played in it some. Molly did a good job biking on the trail.afterwards we all went into the cute old town to check it out a little.
We were all wet and chilly so we didn't explore too much.we went back home and played around and cooked dinner.
Sunday: we packed picnic lunches and got ready to go hiking. We did a scary drive out slate River road and up to "Paradise Divide". Our mini van made it over the steep, winding, Rocky, Mountain roads, through some small streams and up very steep climbs with huge drops offs. I was white knuckled the entire ride. Once we made it to the top we did a hike to Yule Pass. It was four miles round trip on an out and back route. It was all on scree and some parts were very dangerous with massive drop offs.
We took our time, held on tightly to the kids and after two and a half hours made it to the pass. The kids loved that they got to touch snow in summer. The views were amazing.
It was not steep, it was a very slight and gradual climb, not arduous at all besides from the footing. We made the hike back in an hour and a half. We read up on engine braking before taking the way down the hill and it worked well. When we got back down the mountain James took the kids to a play ground in town and I ran back to the house, which was 10 miles. We showered, cooked dinner and went to bed.
Monday: today we stayed in Crested Butte South, which is where the house we are staying in is located. Crested Butte south is about 8 miles from town. We went into the valley and found a few hikes. We saw a fox and walked through beautiful aspen groves.
One was up to an old mine shaft.
We had a picnic lunch then went into the mine. We went in about 50 yards. We were scared a bear would pop out. A bird flew out and scared us all to death! There was nothing really interesting in there but it was neat to think of the history. Then we hiked up to some caves. This was a harder but shorter hike as we gained more altitude more quickly. One cave was wide open and went all the way through to the opening in the top. The second cave we explored was very fun. It had lots of off shoots and different rooms. We had to climb up a pole to get in.
We explored every nook and cranny. Sometimes we were on our stomachs climbing thru tiny openings to other rooms.
Molly was totally fearless and went into little openings on her belly on her own. We were all filthy but had a very adventurous time. When we drove home we searched for a hot spring but didn't find it. We came home to shower all the mud off and are tired! We had a little fire put to roast marshmallows.
Tuesday: today everyone woke up a little tired and run down so we decided to have a more relaxed pace day. We hung around in the house, doing puzzles and the kids learned about setting up domino tricks so we did a few of those. James, casey and julia drove down the hill. Molly rode her bike while I ran.
We met them at a playground at the bottom of the hill. The kids played on the climbing wall, playground, and there was a tiny bike track with small berms and bumps.
The kids all rode on it a bunch but especially molly. She rode around and around for so long, getting faster and more confident.
Molly and I came back to the house and had a lunch date and she took a a well needed nap. James and the other two went into town and ran into a herd of cattle in the road.
Afterwards the girls and I ran into town for some groceries.
Wednesday: today we tried a more difficult hike. We drove to the trailhead and hiked to the summit of Scarp Ridge West. We hiked two miles up and gained 1,500 feet of elevation to reach the top at 12,200 feet.
The girls were amazing and hiked every step of the way on their own. We took many breaks and it took about two and a half hours to get to the top.
Casey climbed down into a rocky pit and when she was scaling the wall she fell and scrapped her belly. It was very windy at the top but the views were great.
We could see so far. The bowls all had a lot of snow in them still. We had lunch up top in a little spot hidden from the wind.
The walk down was hard on the kids because they were cold and tired so we did some carrying on the way down.
We were very proud of the girls for making it so far. When we drove back to town we stopped at a restaurant for happy hour and had chips and salsa and a beer. And we loaded up on postcards. As I sit on the deck of this house it's hard to believe tomorrow is our last full day here. We've really enjoyed Crested Butte.
Our guide explained all about the lives of miners and the working conditions. It was really fascinating. Casey volunteered to demonstrate a "double Jack". When two men would work together to dig into the mine walls with a sledgehammer and post. After exiting the mine we got to try panning for gold. Casey was especially into it and very determined to stay and strike it rich. 
After the mine tour we went on a short hike on the Ouray Perimeter trail. We climbed off the trail and went to explore an old mine on the cliff face. It was neat but a little hairy getting the kids up and down from there. 
After hiking the kids rode with me on a 9 mile run. It was a fairly easy ride so despite the distance they managed it well. James drove to the end and parked and ran towards us then we all ran back to the car. We stopped a a scenic lookout and made some pasta on the camp stove for dinner and then headed back to camp. We had another campfire and turned in after a full day. 
