Crested Butte

A huge steak with baked potato, salad, an appetizer and ice cream brownies for dessert, all for 12 dollars. This is exactly what dinner at a real Wild West ranch should look like. We found the ranch by chance on the side of the road in the small town of Montrose on the way from Crested Butte to Telluride. Well fortified, we finally tackled the last few miles to the old mining town in the middle of the mighty San Juan Mountains.

The drive in heavy snowfall from Aspen to Crested Butte is long and difficult. The route planner had indicated a good three hours in normal weather, but with 30 centimetres of fresh snow on completely uncleared mountain roads, it takes seven hours. Without four-wheel drive, this would probably have been a mission impossible. So once again it was midnight before we drove our jeep into the hotel garage.