Jun 10 – 17
For the first time since December of 2021, we took a trip to the Western Slope of Colorado.
After the itch became too much for Brandy to handle, in May, she broke down and booked a six day stay at the Pioneer Guest Cabins in Crested Butte. She had been there several times in the past, but this would be my first trip.
The cabin was booked for the only available week, June 10 – 17. Being perilously low on PTO, I knew I’d have to work through much of that time, but the cabins offer adequate Wi-Fi so I knew I wouldn’t have an issue.
After being home for less than a week from our trip to Minnesota, we packed our car back up Friday night and, early Saturday morning, set back out.
Departure
We left just before 8:00 Saturday morning. Our plan initially was to drive to Julesburg, CO, just inside the border of Colorado and Nebraska. That would have put us just over halfway to our final destination but we left early enough that we would have gotten there before 3:00. We decided we would pass by Julesburg and just go until we felt like stopping.
We briefly pulled off the freeway in Brighton, but the only lodging options there were well above our price range. We decided to pass through Denver and see what was on the other side.
We traveled on through Golden, West Pleasant View, and Morrison without seeing anything suitable. We finally stopped at a gas station in Conifer trying to find something more substantial than road snacks to eat. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, just before 7:00 pm, their prepared food had already been discarded. We topped off the gas tank and pushed on, not finding any lodging that didn’t require a three night stay.
On we went, winding our way through the forested mountains of Colorado, finally finding ourselves in Fairplay. We found ourselves at A Riverside Inn Travelodge where we booked a double room just past the front desk. We unloaded our single-night stuff, dropped the AC to 66 degrees and I made an order for food at the Asian Fusion restaurant next door to the hotel.
After 13 hours of driving, I was bushed, but knowing we only had two hours of driving the next day certainly made it better.
Sunday morning, we were on the road at 8:00 am, much earlier than we needed to be. We knew check-in at the cabin wasn’t going to be until 3:00 at the earliest, but Brandy was anxious to get to her happy place so we set out.
The hotel didn’t offer anything hot for breakfast so I tried finding something nearby to eat before Brandy woke up. Nothing was open that early so after she got ready to go, we headed south to Salida. We were planning on stopping at Uptown Grill, the same place I had my first taste of Colorado Huevos Rancheros in September 2020, but alas, the diner was gone, in its place, a Mexican restaurant.
We passed it by and instead found ourselves at Romeo’s Pancakes, a diner that hasn’t seen an update since the 70s. We walked in and were quickly seated by a 12 year old girl. It was clear they were desperate for help.
We sat and perused the menu. Our order was taken by a server that was clearly dealing with a severe cold or possibly even a light flu. I was a little concerned but we were in a hurry so we went ahead and ordered and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, our food came. It was fine. Typical diner food. I got the Four, which was two eggs (scrambled), sausage, hash browns and pancakes.
We quickly ate, paid our tab and left to find that while we were there, the place crowded up pretty quickly.
We left Salida and headed up the Monarch pass, stopping at the visitor’s center at the crest. We shopped around for a bit, bought some stickers for our water cups and bottles, used the restrooms and headed out to make our way down the other side of the mountain we’d just climbed.
Less than an hour later, we found ourselves at the Walmart in Gunnison. We did some light shopping, picking up non-perishable foods to take back to the cabin with us.
After that stop, it was only noon, so with a bunch of time to kill yet, we decided to head up to the Taylor Park Reservoir. The last time we visited, the water level was tragically low. After a winter of watching feet upon feet of snow falling in the area, we were hopeful for a bountiful water level.
Sure enough, as we headed through Almont, alongside the Gunnison, East and Taylor rivers, we saw that the water levels were nice and high- a promising sign for the lake at the top of our drive.
We made our way up County Road 742 finding ourselves at the Taylor Park Trading Post just after 1:00.
By this point, I was concerned that I’d forgotten my hoodie at home so we poked around and found one in my size that we liked. We dropped $70 on it (which sounds like a lot, but for a 4XL hoodie in the Western Slope of Colorado, that’s about right.) We also picked up a couple more stickers before heading back down the road.
Brandy drove us back to the Safeway in Gunnison where we went in and picked up the more perishable stuff we’d avoided at Walmart as we knew we still had time before we could check in to the cabin.
Once we’d gotten what we could at Safeway, we headed back up the road toward Crested Butte, turning in at Crested Butte South and taking a narrow dirt road to our lodging for the next five nights.
Pioneer Guest Cabins
There are eight cabins at Pioneer Guest Cabins, each of which with it’s own grill, fire ring, HEAVY DUTY Adirondack chairs and hammock. Our fire ring and chairs were across the road and our hammock was down on the banks of Cement Creek loudly rushing by.
As we arrived, I realized I wasn’t feeling too well. I was fatigued and had a headache. I’d felt it coming on while we were in Gunnison and figured it was allergies, so I bought some allergy pills. I took some and hoped for the best.
Our cabin was quite cozy. The ceilings were at about 7 feet, so very low. There was one bedroom with a door and a double bed in it, and behind a half wall in the living room was a second double bed. Beyond that was a tiny bathroom with a small shower stall, about as big as the one in the basement at our house. There wasn’t enough room for me to sit straight on the toilet so when I sat on it, I had to sit cockeyed, kind of pointing to the left.
There was a small kitchen with a small four burner gas stove, a fridge and a barn sink. Noticeably missing was a microwave.
The kitchen was well stocked with dishes, pots, pans and most of what we’d need to get by. Also included was a French press and electric kettle.
We unloaded the car and, with the rest of the night to do nothing, we poured ourselves some drinks.
Brandy made a big pan of baked pasta that would hold us over for the week. Once we were nice and drunk, we crammed ourselves into the double bed, Brandy up against the wall, her head at my feet and with her face in the open window. We slept like that all week.
Monday
The next morning, I woke up feeling like crap. I did drink quite a bit, and with being at elevation again, I didn’t take it very well. I spent the better part of the day cockeyed on the toilet and, having to work, I wasn’t able to recuperate in bed. I worked from the couch in the main living area of the tiny cabin.
The weather was a good twenty degrees cooler than in the Midwest, topping out in the mid-60s. Combined with the illness I was feeling, I was rather cold throughout the day. I found myself turning on the gas stove in the living area to keep warm. The cast iron body of the stove worked well to keep my coffee warm too.
After work, I made a trip out to Crested Butte to try to pick up a few things we were unable to procure at Safeway the day before. The store I went to didn’t have hardly anything on my list so I made the half-hour drive back into Gunnison to the City Market and found everything on my list. I drove back to the cabin and cooked up some leftover pasta before calling it an early evening.
Tuesday
The next day, I woke up feeling much better. I started my day at the kitchen table, working my first post-upgrade call shift of the year. I was extremely busy, taking many more tickets than I usually do. I got through the day rather unscathed though, so I wasn’t too upset about it.
After work, Brandy and I strapped on our hiking shoes and we took a short hike up a trail that originates from the road that runs through the grounds. We made it nearly half a mile before we found ourselves on the banks of the rushing Cement Creek. We milled around a bit, took a few pictures then headed back to the cabin where we waited patiently for Christy to show up. While we waited, I made some hamburgers and bratwursts on the grill and cooked up a can of baked beans on the stove top.
Christy arrived at around 8:00, we lit a small fire in the fire ring, poured some drinks and chit-chatted for a bit before I headed to bed at about 10:00. Brandy and Christy stayed up for a bit longer, but I was out like a light by the time Brandy came to bed.
Wednesday
I started my day Wednesday as I had Tuesday, working at the kitchen table. I had some left over stuff to handle from Tuesday before tying up loose ends as I went into my four day weekend.
Brandy and Christy headed out at about 10:00 to tour Gothic Rd. in Crested Butte and have lunch in town so I spent the day alone in the cabin.
At the end of my work day, I broke down my work computer and packed it all up, getting it ready to be loaded in the car Friday morning. I then put my hiking boots back on and headed back down the trail Brandy and I had hiked the day prior, only this time, I made it nearly a full mile before turning back.
I was about three quarters of a mile in to the hike before I realized, I was hiking in bear country, alone, with no bear spray. I had heard that in the absence of defense from bear attacks, prevention is the best measure. Apparently most bear attacks happen with the victim startles or surprises the bear. Making noise to announce your presence is recommended when hiking through bear country. If a bear knows you’re coming, they’ll typically run away and hide and not bother you. I did what I could then by putting music on my phone. I pulled up a blues playlist on Spotify and let it play through my phone’s speaker as I hiked through the wilderness. It apparently worked wonders, I didn’t encounter a single bear.
On my journey, I came across a small stream crossing, a huge boulder with some trees leaning against it in an all-to-coincidental pattern, and a nice, still pond.
After I hit the thirty minute mark, I turned around and made my way back the way I’d come, finishing at 1.86 miles in 54 minutes.
As I approached the cabin, I saw that Brandy and Christy had returned while I was out. Christy was just exiting the cabin as I was walking in. She told me Brandy was asleep, worn out from the activities of the day.
I shortly started our dinner, preparing a couple of ribeye steaks, some baby gold potatoes and asparagus. The stove was woefully underpowered so it took forEVER for the potatoes to come to a boil. The grill’s flames kept going out while I was trying to cook the steaks so they never developed a good sear. But boy oh boy, was everything delicious at the end of it all.
I had signed Christy and myself up for some time in the hot tub that evening, so after dinner, we changed into our swimwear and headed down to the tub. We got in and it almost immediately started raining. We sat in the cool drizzle as thunder rolled across the sky. We had some good conversation and, after our hour was up, we shut the pool down and headed back to the cabin. The walk back was chilly, us being wet and the wind starting to pick up. When we got back, we changed into nice, warm clothes and hung out for the rest of the night.
Thursday – Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
As I took aver 120 pictures at the national park, I’m going to make a whole separate post on that experience. Suffice it say, it was a fantastic trip and I absolutely insist on returning next time we’re in the area.
Friday and the Return Home
Friday morning, I woke up much later than I had the rest of the week, partly because I didn’t have an alarm waking me up, but also due to the exhaustion from the adventures at Black Canyon of the Gunnison the day before.
Upon waking up, Christy had made coffee and done most of the dishes. I started loading the car up, which took the better part of an hour and a half. I was achy and sore from the hikes I had taken on Thursday so I was moving much slower than normal.
Finally, we found ourselves on the road right at 9:00, driving through the cabins with my arm hanging out the window with our last bag of garbage clutched in my grasp. We made it to the dumpster and threw it away and were on the road. We made a stop at City Market to top off the gas tank and then on to McDonald’s where Brandy had to use the men’s room to be sick as the women’s was inexplicably out of order. I guarded the door preventing anyone from walking in on her as she threw up.
When she got everything up and out, we placed our order, got our food and hit the road.
We drove along rather uneventfully, deciding to stop at the natural halfway point in North Platte, NE. We stopped once for lunch in Ft. Morgan, CO, hitting up a Subway and eating in the rain in their parking lot. We did hit a nice puddle just before Ft. Morgan that caused us to hydroplane a bit and having the cruise control on, the car got awfully squirrelly before I regained control. Before long, through, we’d outrun the rain and wound up in North Platte without further incident.
I had just prior decided on the Hampton Inn in North Platte as they offered oversized, jetted bathtubs. I knew Brandy wasn’t feeling well so I thought that would be a nice treat for her. I walked in to the hotel with no reservations and asked for one such room. They only had two and they were both available, so lucky us. I was dealing with a new person who struggled to get us checked in. Before long, the manager took over and completed my check-in. I got the room keys, went back to the car, grabbed everything I could and let ourselves into the room.
Aside from the oversized tub, it was a standard hotel room with a king sized bed. Nothing fancy about it at all.
Brandy immediately started her bath while I ordered dinner from Door Dash. After an infuriating mix-up, we finally got our food. We ate, I took a bath myself and crawled into bed, ready to finish the trip out.
Saturday, I woke up way later than I ever do at hotels. I made my way downstairs and had the best hotel breakfast I’d had in a while. After stuffing myself silly, I went back to the room and Brandy and I packed up and were back on the road just after 8:00. We made one stop in York, NE, for lunch at Wendy’s and to top off the gas tank, then on we went, through Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs and Des Moines before getting off the 80 and finishing our drive up at 3:30 or so.
We relieved our dog sitter of her duties, unloaded the car, ordered Jade Palace Chinese food to pick up and sat and relaxed the rest of the night.
Conclusion
Considering I worked most of the time we were there, this was one of the better trips I’ve taken to Colorado. I think the hikes I took and the trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison really sold me on it, as did the relaxing I did by the fire and in the hot tub. I am eager to return as I’d like to explore the north rim of the canyon and try to take a whole week off to relax and enjoy the time in Colorado.
As always, I have pictures from our excursion on my Photo Diary page. I will next be working on going through pictures from all of my recent outings so I can finish up the posts as well as getting the post up talking about the trip to the Canyon. Stay tuned for those as I’m able to get them up.
And, as always, thank you for stopping by. I appreciate you.
-Phil
Pingback: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park – Wandering New Mexican