Hanging Baskets of Crested Butte

These photos were taken in summer 2007 and I decided to wait until it felt like summer would never come again before I posted them...And yes, it now feels like summer will never come again! I thought spring was starting to happen, but no: the wind is blowing, the snow if driving so hard that I can't see across the road, and we are once again digging out of the parking lot!

It's March 14 and we have received 356 inches of snow, with more due over the next four days...Yep feels like summer will never come again...even some snowdrops or crocuses poking through at this point would be celebrated, but I don't think there is anything alive under that 28 and a half feet of snow!!!

One of the things that I love about Crested Butte in the summer time is the riot of colour...


The reds, blues, greens and yellows that the houses are painted; the dark and light blues of the perfectly clear sky; the greens that distinguish the different grasses in the meadows and on the mountain sides; and the profusion of wild flowers that are everywhere from the high mountain slopes surrounding us to the hanging baskets, planters and borders that spill their bounty every where and add to the beauty of the town.

Here are some of the photos I took of the flowers around town...I tried to keep my camera with me, because they constantly changed. These photos were taken around July and when I was looking around town and a month later I realized how much the baskets, planters and borders had all changed as they filled out and the colour ran everywhere...

My favourites started as the simple, single colour bowls which had just one flower. But then I also began to appreciate the baskets that were just filled with every colour imaginable and all different styles of flower...

and the ones that had two offsetting colours...

...and then I also started to appreciate that people were trying to contrast the colour of their houses against the colours of the flowers they had planted...much like we did with the dark red snapdragons and the adobe coloured stucco of our house on Caribou Pass Circle....

This house is neutral with lovely pastel lupines (I believe) out front

I have yet to take a photo of the deep red chile ristras that contrast beautifully with a dark green house on one of the side streets here in town...or the house that has vivid violety-indigo flowers hanging in baskets against a beige wall, perfectly complimenting each other. That will have to happen next summer...when it finally gets here!

And of course, there is that other perennial summer view of Crested Butte that I snapped one day when every one was vying for the perfect parking spot outside the Brick Oven so they could quaff a cold beer after a long day!...

Aah...just looking forward to those long summer days when I don't have to put on four layers, boots, gloves, scarves and hats just to start the car in the morning!

For Amanda...

Had huge thunder storms yesterday (one of which I got caught in on my bike up on the mountain...) but at least I was able to get more great rainbow shots. Amanda, these are for you...next time I'll try a different vantage point!

Rainbow

Wanted to share this very cool photo that Nick took from our deck of a double rainbow...the photo has not been altered in anyway...the second rainbow was very faint, but the first one was so bright we were convinved the pot of gold was sitting right there in the sage!

Update from Crested Butte

Well, I could have spent this morning updating the blog with all the information and photos from our hike this weekend...The ongoing saga of the kitchen just gets worse (one day it will be finished...!) so we decided to be positive and take advantage of the situation and hike through the Maroon Bells and Snowmass wilderness to Aspen, which is something we have wanted to do for a while....Today was too nice though! So instead of keeping you updated, I went for a run...gotta get training for that 10 mile race...and then decided to go out for a bike ride...it is just GORGEOUS here...hope your Monday is happy too!!!!

The Daily Grind and Commuting...

Crested Butte

So, the commute to my new job is REALLY tough....

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I get on my bike at about 10 am and then I ride from Skyland where we live, to the Crested Butte ski mountain.

I am serving tables on the patio from 11 -5....

The ride takes me out of our community to the edge of town, and from there, I catch the bike path up to the moutain.
This photo is near the school on the edge of Crested Butte - hopefully you can zoom in on it a little...










Here's the start of the bike path..it looks pretty easy from here...







I pass the wetlands...and head up hill! On the way out it's pretty much up hill all the way. So I huff and puff my way up there in about 50 minutes - we are at almost 9,000 feet after all, and I don't think we've quit aclimatized yet! After work it's down all the way....












The views are incredible...the camera just doesn't do the place justice...the skies are blue, the sun is shining, the hummingbirds are humming and zooming all over the place, everyone says "Morning" with a big smile...life is rough here in the Butte!

Nick's commute is pretty similar - the only difference is that he gets to drive up there in the company truck! I don't think either of us have been in the car or truck since Sunday when we got back from Twin Lakes - good job with the price of gas these days...the nearest we get to road rage is yelling at the butterflies to keep out of the way of the windscreen!! Rush hour just means there are more bikes on the road around town...now all we have to do is avoid the tourists!!!