Crested Butte: Christmas 2025

Our family spent Christmas together in Crested Butte.  A dusting of fresh snow fell on Christmas morning, so that afternoon saw me out with my camera.

I headed up towards Kebler Pass first, knowing the pass was closed but believing there would be a good view somewhere along the short stretch of road that is open.  Not surprisingly, there is!

I got some great shots along the Woods Walk this past summer, so I thought I'd check it out again.  Right above the parking area seemed like a good place to start.

Again ,not surprisingly, there is a beautiful view to be had there.

I didn't go too far along the trail, even though it was nicely tramped down without being icy.  As over the summer, I like the framing at the end of the aspen grove.

Unlike over the summer, I had low western sun to work with which looked wonderful through the dormant trees.

A short expedition, but a rewarding one!

Related Links:

• 2017 Mill-Castle Trail
• 2014 Gothic Road
• Crested Butte: March 2014
• Crested Butte: Elk Avenue
• Crested Butte: Washington Gulch, Part I
• Crested Butte: Washington Gulch, Part II
• Crested Butte: From Dusk Till Dawn

Crested Butte Wildflowers 2024

Wildflower season in Crested Butte is always amazing.  This year I made reservations to camp near Gunnison for a couple of nights and capture what I could.

The great views started on my drive into town, with a variety of wildflowers blooming in the foreground and Mount Crested Butte looking fine in the background.

After dinner in town I headed toward Snodgrass Mountain hoping for a nice sunset shot.  I found what I was looking for.

Then I had nice warm light on Mount Crested Butte as I was heading out, so why not?

I hoped for some color in the clouds that never materialized.  Not that the view was bad.

The next morning it was up before sunrise to hike the Woods Walk.  I loved the fog in the valley.

Speaking of fog.  I like the aspens flanking the trail here, too.

Once the sun was up I had great light on wildflowers like these Owlsclaws...

... this Silvery Lupine...

... and this Fireweed.

This American Robin was EXTREMELY proud of whatever he had in his beak.  I thought it was a worm, but looking at the image it seems more like nest material.

I took this shot almost entirely so I could caption it "Attempted Murder."  Thank you very much. :)

More Owlsclaws, this time spotlighted nicely.

I turned around here and headed back, feeling like I'd seen most everything I needed to see.

Gothic Mountain was reflecting nicely in Peanut Lake, and I thought this setting would be a good place to return to for sunset.  So I went into town and bummed around for about 10 hours, enjoying a very lazy summer day.

Again, I didn't get the color I was hoping for at sunset.  But Mount Crested Butte still looked pretty.

One final shot, then into town for some ice cream before driving back to my campsite.  This was my last photo outing for the summer, and a great way to end the season!

Related Links:

• Trail 403
• Snodgrass Mountain, July 2015: Part I
• Snodgrass Mountain, July 2015: Part II
• Scarp Ridge, Part II
• Brush Creek Trail, July 2015
• Brush Creek Trail, July 2014: Part II
• Brush Creek Trail, July 2014: Part I

Mill-Castle Trail

Some people like to sleep in when they're on vacation. Frankly, I'm one of them. But then I think about the great things I could do if I weren't sleeping, and end up spurning the comfort of my warm bed and soft pillow. Such was the case on our last day in Colorado over spring break, when I got up before dawn to head out and snowshoe some of the Mill-Castle Trail.

Temperatures had been unseasonably warm all week in both Denver and Crested Butte.  The sun was still partially obscured by thin clouds when I hit the trail, but with no wind to speak of the conditions were perfect.

As usual, some dead wood caught my eye.  I can just get lost in the textures and patterns sometimes, and in this case I was also captivated by the colors.

The trail slopes very gently over its first couple of miles, and while the snow wasn't fresh I thought there was exactly the right amount to create a beautiful late winter scene.

The Castles themselves start playing peek-a-boo about a mile in, then the trail opens up into a valley that gives an unobstructed view.

This is not a bad place to own 160 acres, though I imagine you can't reach it on anything with wheels for seven months of the year.  Of course, the five months that you can are probably totally worth it.

The direction of the sunlight actually made the formation opposite The Castles more visually interesting.  More shadows and contrast.  And another nice little cabin in the foreground.

Just a couple of miles in I decided to turn back and follow Mill Creek for a while instead of sticking to the trail.  This gave me the opportunity to get a little running water in the foreground of the scene.

Traipsing through the snow on the south side of the creek meant breaking trail a bit, but the warm day made that a lot easier than it could have been.

My dilemma shooting aspens in the winter is always whether the images are more interesting in color or black and white.  I'm still not sure I have an answer to that one.

Nope.  Still decidedly undecided.

The thin clouds of early morning had given way to mostly bluebird skies when I made it back to the trailhead.  Four miles in three hours isn't going to break any speed records, but speed was far from my goal.  Breathing some fresh mountain air and spending time in some wilderness were what I was after.  Mission very satisfyingly accomplished.

Snodgrass Mountain, July 2015: Part II

Click here for Part I.

I couldn't be in Crested Butte for the Wildflower Festival this year.  But being there the week before wasn't too bad!  Things were just about peaking on Snodgrass Mountain at the time. 

A short row of Alpine Sunflowers, already looking a little past peak in just the first week of July.

This White-crowned Sparrow was quite tiny, and spent a good amount of time singing, preening and generally enjoying the warm sun.

Speaking of enjoying things, this Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel was going to town on an Alpine Sunflower blossom.  The old cabin ruins doubled as his breakfast table.

The clouds grew thicker as I set up for a shot up Gothic Road.  I would have preferred the lighting to be a little brighter.

The clouds had dissipated quite a bit as sunset neared, so back I went for a second helping.  The late light on Mt. Crested Butte was beautiful.

The sky didn't have a ton of color, but the clouds still took on the appearance of floating balls of cotton candy.

The view to the west was interesting, and not something I normally shoot.  But the silhouette of the trees and the fierce aspect of the clouds compelled me to capture the view.

The color deepened and darkened as twilight continued to fall, providing one final splash of pinks and purples over Mt. Crested Butte and Whetstone Peak.  A fantastic end to two glorious weeks in Colorado!

Snodgrass Mountain, July 2015: Part I

On our last full day in Crested Butte I wanted to get in one last photo hike. But Black Canyon the day before had pretty well wiped me out. So I wasn't up for anything too intense. Enter Snodgrass Mountain!

Promoted as an out-and-back with great wildflowers and views of Mt. Crested Butte, I figured I could get the type of shots I was looking for and simply turn around when I lost interest or energy.  Things got off to a solid start with a trail ride adding some interest to an already solid view of Red Lady.

You often have to get out in the wilderness to see good ruins.  These remnants of an old cabin are just a couple hundred yards away from a Porta Potty.

Lighting conditions were perfect -- lots of fluffy clouds but also lots of breaks for abundant sunshine to stream through.  Getting the right light on both foreground and background sometimes required waiting a bit, but doing so was always well worth it.

Another trail ride conveniently came down the trail to liven up yet another scene.  The leader advised me to move a bit further off the trail so as not to make her horse nervous, which I quickly did.  Unfortunately, I didn't notice that I stepped right in a massive anthill in the process.  At least, I didn't notice until some time had passed and the little buggers started biting me in places I'd rather not be bitten.

A fortuitous spot an aspen grove -- this Pale Swallowtail enjoying the warm morning.

I had such good light and was in such close proximity that I followed the butterfly from one plant to another, growing even happier with this shot than the previous one.

I thought I had a good view to the northeast, with a composition nicely divided into vertical thirds.  But this shot leaves me a little blah.  Some more wildflower blossoms in the lower left would probably have punched it up nicely.

Common plants end up with a lot of common names. Ligusticum porteri is known as Loveroot, Lovage, Porter’s Lovage, Porter’s Ligusticum, Osha, Chuchupate, Licorice Root, and Wild Parsley.

Click here for Part II.