My wife surprised me for my birthday with a ski trip to Crested Butte. I have been wanting to get out to CB to ski for some time now. As we were leaving Colorado Springs a low pressure system was moving up the front range and dumping snow in the region and Summit County areas. All season Ihave been skiing the Summit andmissing the snow dumps around CB, Monarch and Wolf Creek. I hoped that this storm would also dump some fresh pow in CB.Ashley had used the vrbo website to find our lodging but if you are interested in the Love Shack you can always go directly to this link for it. We like to take our furry K9 children with us so finding this cozy cabin that allowed pets was a hit. The bonus was being in the backyard of the Secret Stash. This close proximity made it quite easy for us to gorge on the best pizza anywhere and then walk home after enjoying the tasty drink menu.
We arrived to find mountains of snow around the buildings in town and gentle flakes falling from the sky. We unpacked and took took the kids for a walk around town. The other nice thing about CB is that it is very dog friendly. We were responsible pet owners and picked up our dogs poop but we saw other owners that were not so responsible. Hopefully they will not ruin it for those of us that are. We gorged ourselves on pizza, wonder where, and then turned in.
We woke to about 4-6 inches of fresh snow and blue-bird sky above. Ashley was really tearing it up and enjoying the fresh snow while I managed to forget my helmet and yardsale down a few runs. I also bashed the top of my head while finding some pow in the trees. I had been thinking about giving up the helmet but after today I will keep it on. We had great conditions and really enjoyed the terrain.
After our day on the slopes we thought about trying a different place to dine. Since we always travel to CB in the summer and camp we usua
lly only eat out once at the stash so it is time to branch out. Well we did not branch far. We decided on Lobar, which is owned by same people as the Secret Stash. We wondered how quality the sushi would be in a small mountain tow n and were pleasantly surprised. We were also surprised by the bill, quality does not come cheap.. I do have to say that it was very good and we would go back. They offer some pretty different roles and tasty drinks.
We were not ready to turn in just yet and looked to explore another place for some drinks. Just around the corner from Lobar is The Dogwood Cocktail Cabin. We walked in and found padded benches and chairs in dimly lit rooms with candles on the tables and along the wall or a well lit bar. We chose a cozy corner in a room while we decided on what to drink. The decisions are vast and would require several visits to make a dent so we will have to make several trips for pizza at the stash and drinks at the cabin!
Ashley did not feel like skiing the next day so I was up and out early fo
r some skiing some steeper terrain. The skies were clear overnight so the temps were cold in the am, making for some icy skiing.
The sun was out so I was hoping that things would soften up a but the temps stayed low and the conditions stayed firm. I even tried to suffer through a cup of Camp 4 coffee on the slopes, horrible place to have a cup! All you ever hear about skiing here is how hard the terrain is well there is plenty for everyone. You can look over lips that may cause you to soil yourself or you can cruise groomers.
After skiing I met with Ashley and we drove around to see how far we could get into the back country on the roads. They were all closed pretty close to town but we decided to hike Gothic Rd the next day with the dogs. We stopped at the store for some dinner supplies but when we returned the sweet smell of roasting garlic coming from the stash was like a siren's song. We gave in and wandered over. I must warn anyone going to the stash for eats, plan on waiting a long time for food. There are warnings everywhere about this in the restaurant but during both our visits our food arrived pretty quick..
The next day we had to be up early to be out of the shack by 10am. After a quick breakfast and loading up the truck we took the dogs out for a hike. The big flakes falling and the flat light made for some surreal looking landscapes during the hike. Little Lance was having a blast and Kobie decided to test his mettle by veering off the road only to be turned back when he sunk in the deep powder.
I really enjoyed skiing the resort but was drooling looking at all the terrain around.
A group of floundering cross country skiers made some comments about Lance being a "rat on a leash".
I only glared through my sunglasses and grunted at them as we walked away. My filter was on so I did not tell the cow on skis how I felt about her comments or person. Needless to say we hiked farther and faster than they skied..
We were hungry after our hike so we headed back into town and settled on Pitas In Paradise. The menu offered some pretty tasty tofu options for Ashley and some meat fares for me. We were not disappointed with our culinary experiments this time. In fact you would be hard pressed to have a horrible experience in the CB dining arena. Unfortunately we had to make the trek back home before the 
roads continued to deteriorate. We never want to leave when we are there, hmmmm, maybe time for a change...
I like this pick of the Cosmic Dogsleds. Funkiness in a cool mountain town!
