Paradise Divide
We planned on packing a lot of trail miles into our three-day stay in Crested Butte, and we got to our condo just after lunch. The drive from Denver went quickly, and we were on schedule. We tossed our stuff into the condo and headed out to the trails near our condo at 1:45PM. Could we get it all done? We decided to play it by ear.
Paradise Divide was a new one for us, though we'd done the eastern half before when we did Schofield Pass the last time. Our condo was right next to the end of Paradise Divide, so we did it in that direction. It was sunny and nice out, and we were happy to be on the trail.
That half is easy, and it didn't take long to get up to Schofield Pass. At the intersection, we left Paradise Divide to do Schofield Pass, Crystal City, and Lead King Basin. Wow! We got back to the Paradise Divide intersection at 8PM, and we had plenty of light to enjoy the top half of the western side of the loop.
This side was very scenic, and we enjoyed it a lot more than the eastern side. The basin was gorgeous, and we all snapped a ton of pictures of Cinnamon Mountain. It's a pretty peak.
We passed by some hikers on the road and they asked Monica how far it was to town. They were headed in the opposite direction so she asked them if they meant Marble. They said that they meant Crested Butte so Monica told them they were walking in the wrong direction. Not only that, it was a long walk from where we were. They ended up getting a ride from Ben all the way into town, and we even saw them at the restaurant later that evening.
Paradise Divide itself was an uneventful place so we snapped a picture or two and moved on. Then we headed downhill. The switchbacks were fun and scenic, and no one had an issue.
It started getting dark at that point, and it was completely dark by the time we finished the trail. We had talked about doing Gunsight Pass but we ran out of daylight. We'd have to save that for another time. There are so many trails in the area.
We finished the trail and headed into town for dinner. By the time we were finally unpacking it was clear we wouldn't be getting much sleep this trip. Oh well, there is time to sleep when you're dead. We have trails to see!
