Crested Butte

One of the loveliest ski towns around, Crested Butte was settled in 1880. As with many ski towns, it began life as a mining town engaged in coal and silver mining. As the mines dried up, so did the town. In the 60's skiing came to Crested Butte and the town began to revive. Many of the old Victorian structures from the turn of the century remain. Brightly painted and energetic, the town is known as the wildflower capital of Colorado. With the insane amounts of snow, it is quite literally the perfect ski town. We have visited a number of times and never been dissapointed.

The Painter Boy Meadow on Mt. Crested Butte is the site of our wedding.


	Isn't Painter Boy Pretty
	The Ginger Cafe. A lovely little Thai restaurant. As with many other businesses, it was nearly buried in snow this weekend. This was our first of many trips to Crested Butte.


Elk St. is the main drag in Crested Butte. How much more quaint could you get?

	The Ruby at Crested Butte. One of the first B & B's I've ever been to that lived up to expectations. Charming building, private rooms, friendly hosts, wonderful breakfast. In short, it's everything you could want in a B & B. Note the vast quantities of snow. Yes there was some snow. They've learned to deal with this amount of snow, though they had a lot even for Crested Butte. They had a few days of sun (not warmth) and apparently, the depth had really gone down at the time these were taken.




Elk Street The Union Congregational Church was founded in 1880. There have been some changes to the structure, but it appears much as it did when it was completed in 1880. There is a history of the building on the church's website at Church Website The Mallardi Cabaret. A turn of the century building that is currently the town theater, though I believe at one time it was the town hall.

	Above: The Old Rock Schoolhouse. Built in 1883, it was a school house, storage facility, museum and abandoned building till finally being converted to the Old Rock Community Library. Izzy's Bagel Shop.
It is every bit as cold as it looks...possibly even colder. The Marshal's Office. Biking is big in Crested Butte and I saw several cyclists even in the extreme cold and on icy roads. Many bikes like this were at the shuttle stops and I assume they are community bikes.
City Hall Biking is big in Crested Butte and I saw several cyclists even in the extreme cold and on icy roads. Many bikes like this were at the shuttle stops and I assume they are community bikes.

	Union Congregational Church. Crested Butte Mountain Resort. A pretty good mountain and a beautiful day for skiing. That's Mount Crested Butte in the background.

	That's Kara. I love this pic. Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Views of the town and of the Mountain.

	Snowmobiling just outside of Crested Butte. Dog Sledding.

	Crested Butte in the Summer is an entirely different experience. A Sculpture in Front of the Old Rock School Elk Street Below.



	Old Rock School House - Two rows above Slogars Historic residence on Main St. Marshal's Office St. Patrick's



	The mountains outside of Crested Butte. Above: The ghost town of Gothic, CO The Crested Butte cemetery is a beautiful place in spite of little maintenance.



	Camp 4 Coffee. Good coffee with a locals-only (yet friendly) atmosphere. Aparantly the license plate "siding" is a regional tradition. Unlike gold mine towns, CB was a coal mining town and as such was much poorer. They used what ever was handy as siding. Hiking Mt. Crested Butte



	Autumn in Crested Butte