BE COOL AT CRESTED BUTTE!

By Trish Mandes

With the dog days of summer hard upon us, are you seeking a cool, casual, outdoorsy, and relatively inexpensive vacation? If you are, check out Crested Butte (CB), Colorado. Getting there is fairly painless, even considering the annoyances now associated with air travel. The major airlines offer connecting flights to Denver, Colorado Springs, and Gunnison, which is a 45-minute drive to your destination.

Perhaps you want to glimpse Pike’s Peak and the Air Force Academy while you’re in Colorado. No problem. Catch an early morning flight and land at Denver before you’ve had time to finish reading the newspaper. Grab a Starbucks Doubleshot as you hop on a commuter jet for your final leg to Colorado Springs. Arrive less than an hour later, grab your rental car, and you’re on the road again, well before noon. Don’t you just love time changes?

The highway to Crested Butte is relatively unchallenging – no switchbacks on narrow roads across the Rockies, thank goodness. After a pleasant drive on I-25, surrounded by a breathtaking background of lofty mountains, you meet the real thing, the Monarch Pass. At an elevation of 11,312 feet, this Great Divide is a bit higher than the Blue Ridge. The lanes are wide, however, and the climb is gentle. Near the top is a cable car for intrepid travelers, who want to ascend to the snow-covered summit.

None of the quaint villages on the way prepare you for Crested Butte, which is about the size of Occoquan, Virginia. The site of traditional hunting grounds of the Ute Indians, CB was founded in 1880. When gold and silver were discovered nearby, the town boomed. Coal mining later became the major industry, and over the years the area declined in prosperity. The 1960s brought skiing, however, and the town’s rebirth. Restored miners’ shacks, Victorian store fronts, Craftsman houses, and log cabins create a flavor of the Old West. On Elk Avenue, the main drag, trendy shops and restaurants are painted vividly. Their eye-catching shades are complemented by brilliant flowers everywhere, spilling from window boxes, hanging baskets, fanciful pots, and curbside gardens. Flashy benches fashioned from skis, snowboards, and derelict chrome car bumpers line the street, and teams of Percherons pull restored stage coaches. Here is atmosphere to spare.

Crested Butte is a shopper’s paradise. Since chains are not permitted in the hamlet, individuality abounds. The first stop for many tourists is The Sweet Shirt Shoppe, which until recently was managed during the winter by Fairfax, Virginia resident Julia Millette. After stocking up on tees, sweats, and hats with the CB logo, you will be drawn to the inviting stores up and down the street. Do you want ceramics, textiles, toys, jewelry, antiques, crafts, art wear, or books? You will find the most beautiful items imaginable, both functional and decorative, in the boutiques along Elk Avenue.

The restaurants at Crested Butte are terrific. Whether you relish plain or fancy, gourmet or carry-out, you’ll be contented. The Secret Stash, opened in 2002, is a favorite. The décor is eclectic, memorabilia from around the world, accented with hippy chic. Cushions, sofas, and lounge chairs create an ideal setting for savoring mouthwatering pizza and pasta. If your taste buds crave Mexican, at Donita’s Cantina you’ll find the best chalupas, salsa, and fajitas west of Fairfax Station’s La Tolteca. The taco salad and fried ice cream are delectable. For lunch in a garden reminiscent of a Greek taverna, Pitas in Paradise offers an array of wraps and pitas, plus tabbouleh, pasta, Greek salads, and even conch fritters. At the Brick Oven Pizzeria, you can listen to live bluegrass and golden oldies late into the night while munching blissfully on the restaurant’s spacious patio.

Although the atmosphere, shopping, and dining are splendid, many people travel to Crested Butte for its recreation. Extreme sports have long been welcome. The town has a skateboard park, and snowboarders and skiers coexist peacefully. The ski lifts continue to operate in the summer, but you’ll have to imagine the snow. Covered with wild flowers, the slopes and rugged trails attract hikers and mountain bikers, who enjoy the bright sunshine and brisk temperatures. It was amazing to see cyclists pedaling up the steep roads and rugged trails without stopping to catch their breath. Rafting on the rivers around town, kayaking, fly fishing, and hunting draw enthusiasts as well. If you’re more sedentary, you might want to try a favorite activity of the locals, bench sitting, after you pick up a best seller from The Bookstore and a latte from Camp 4 Coffee on Elk Avenue.

Crested Butte is by no means the Wild West, but horses are part of the outdoor scene, too. Fantasy Ranch Horseback Adventures, where Julia Millette worked as a wrangler in the summer, offers excursions through the beautiful Colorado backcountry. The fifty horses in the herd are quiet and dependable, “bombproof,” a quality greatly desired by dudes who’ve never sat on a horse before. A two-hour trail ride winds through magical aspen groves, where the heart-shaped leaves tinkle in the breeze. The horses cross gentle, meandering streams and pass through forests of fir and pine. On the half-day ride, which is recommended for more experienced equestrians, riders soon leave the aspens behind, ascending Snodgrass Mountain through meadows knee-deep in wildflowers. Near the summit, the views of the majestic mountains towering nearby and the tiny town in the valley far below are spectacular and humbling.

The weather is just about perfect in the summer. Sunny and warm most of the day, it’s mild enough to swim in the pool at your hotel, but not too hot to discourage participation in more strenuous activities. From time to time, a shower lasts long enough to perk up the wildflowers on the meadows, and an occasional breeze or a puffy cumulus cloud cools the dazzling sun. “When an afternoon storm blows through,” commented Millette, “the horses aren’t disturbed by it, and the riders throw on ponchos and continue their excursion.”

Accommodations at Crested Butte range from cabins and huts to bed and breakfasts, motels, condos, houses, and luxury hotels. For people who enjoy living in the wild, the Pioneer Guest Cabins are just right. Located in the beautiful Gunnison National Forest, they are only a few minutes drive from the town. Rustic and quaint, the log cabins are cozy and well-equipped. Nobody staying at one of these “huts” is roughing it. The hotels are equally charming and comfortable. The renovated Grand Lodge on Mount Crested Butte is a stone’s throw from the chair lifts, which carry a stream of energetic bikers and hikers up the mountain. Whether you dust off your mountain bike, pull out your golf clubs, revel in the beauty of the Wildflower Meadow, or catch the whimsically painted shuttle bus into town for shopping and dining, you’ll agree with Reston resident Barbara Donovan, who traveled to Crested Butte for a destination wedding on the side of a mountain. She describes CB as “a hidden gem, the Nantucket of the West.”