Crested Butte: Washington Gulch, Part I

The highlight of my trip to Crested Butte a couple of weeks ago was definitely a snowshoe hike in Washington Gulch with Ginny, my buddy Josh, and his dog Ivan. Bluebird skies, no wind, temperatures in the low 30s -- conditions were absolutely perfect. And with no other plans for the day, we were free to take our time starting and had no set turnaround point. It was a very carefree feeling.

But of course, we couldn't let it be too easy.  So we decided to start off by abandoning the nice, packed, gradual trail and heading up to Meridian Lake ...

... which amounted to a few hundred yards of going pretty much straight up the ridge.  Got the heart pumping, at least.

Gothic Mountain was obligingly photogenic, as was Mt Baldy behind it to a somewhat lesser extent.

The lake was worth the climb -- quiet, snow-covered and picturesque.

Danelle's mom -- an accomplished painter -- gave this shot about the highest praise I can think of when she saw it on Facebook.  She said it looked like a painting, and did a couple of small paintings of her own based on it.

The trail got much more gradual as we followed the ridge line.  Josh wanted to continue climbing to the next ridge on the other side of the lake.  I felt plenty rugged enough.

Barren aspens and long shadows combine to form an interesting pattern of lines.

A glimpse back to the southeast with Mt. Crested Butte on the left, and then into the trees.

Click here for Part II.