We woke up to a beautiful crisp morning in Crested Butte and got all ready to do some hiking and enjoy the beautiful fall leaves. We ventured out of the town of Crested Butte on Rt. 12 towards Kebler Pass. On the way towards Kebler Pass Mike decided to venture off on S. Plains Gulch Rd (12F) towards the West Elk Wilderness. At first the road was nothing special and we were amongst a million pine trees. There really wasn't a whole lot of aspen trees or any colorful trees for that matter. It was at the point where we thought maybe we should turn around and then we popped out at the top of this amazing view of aspen trees. We continued on the road as it wound down towards the West Elk Wilderness. Just the drive alone was worth the detour and we took full advantage of the beauty of it all. All the windows were rolled down and I was standing in the front with my head up out of the sunroof so I could take photos while Mike drove really slowly. I'm sure people thought we were crazy. We made it to the trailhead for the Beaver Pond hike and were lucky enough to grab the last parking spot. This was a short hike, maybe 2 miles total, but it was the most beautiful fall hike ever. There were just so many aspens it was unreal and although the leaves had already started to fall off the trees, there was still plenty of yellow left on the trees. Every time a little breeze would blow through the trail it would rain down yellow aspen leaves. Between that and the sun shining through the trees, it was pretty magical. When we finally made it out of the single track trail to Beaver Pond, the views were equally impressive. We walked around the lake and enjoyed the mountainside view of the colors as well as the impressive beaver dams. As we made our way back, the kids had fun running on dead logs, having duels with big broken branches, and for a few minutes we even sat quietly just listening to the sound of the aspen leaves rustling in the wind. It truly was the perfect way to start our fall day in Crested Butte.
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