Journey to the Western Front pt. 2
As a kid, I played a game called Final Fantasy. It is popular now but the versions I remember did not have the colorized graphics and animations the game is currently known for. One of my favorite parts of the game was visiting the unique towns while playing through an adventure. You could always find some non-playable characters (NPCs) and shops in the towns you came across. Well the same enjoyment I received from playing those video games has now been transferred in to the real world. Many of the towns on the west side of Colorado remind me of those I experienced in those games.
Anytime I travel out west, I meet some of the most wonderful people. You will have a difficult time finding a McDonalds or a Walmart in many of these mountain towns. Most of the towns are nestled within mountain passes or remote areas where having a large chain store is inefficient. These towns have small shops, hotels and restaurants. The people interesting and the sights you will see are stunning.
The town of Crested Butte was the next stop on my adventure. Crested Butte is one of those places that consists of a single main road and a few small tributaries branching off in perpendicular directions. The houses are multicolored and everyone seems to know each other. When I arrived, I met up with a friend who was generous enough to show me around.
As we drove in to town to visit a local bar, I noticed something odd. A woman walking across the street in what I would call “gypsy clothes”. I was right back in the Final Fantasy game all over again.
Apparently I had gotten to town right in time. The locals were winding down a festival known as Vinotok. Never heard of it? Neither had I but you can find more information here.
The festival is a bit exclusive but I happened to be getting to town just as it was winding down. I decided to stop in to a local bar and have a few drinks. To this day, I do not know if I made the right decision or not based on what happened next…
A man, who I thought had to be in his 60s, approached me wearing some leather getup complete with moccasins and a cowboy hat. The man was loud. The man was drunk. The man was offensive. The man was great!
This guy said some of the funniest shit I have ever heard come out of a grown man’s mouth. He just kept approaching me aggressively, yelling things I’m sure he thought were compliments and kept talking about how “we came from this earth and our mother is nature.” This is why I was here.
When you are in a small town on the west side of Colorado, you stop in to the small bars and observe the surroundings. After the man finished yelling and telling me how he and the two men next to me were veterans, I decided to leave and to get some rest. The next morning would bring my next destination.
Crested Butte is known for the great leaf colors this time of year. Two drives, Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass, are scenic drives offering beautiful views of the trees along the countryside. As I started my drive, I stopped on the side of the road to take a few pictures. After some time, another vehicle pulled up and fellow photographer hopped out. We spoke for a bit about cameras. He even offered to let me borrow his lens filters as I had mentioned I forgot mine. Another kind interaction.
Kebler offers a lot of interesting sights, including animals. You drive past a lot of open grazing farmland. These are great opportunities for closeup shots with cattle. You’re also at risk for a bear sighting although I did’t had the pleasure. I have, however, been swarmed by sheep!
I had previously noticed two dogs running, unaccompanied, on the road. It seemed off when I saw it but I didn’t think much after I passed them. But on my way back, I noticed a dirty cloud heading my way. It was a heard of sheep that engulfed the entire road. Both myself and the vehicles behind me had to stop in our tracks and have our vehicles surrounded as sheep continued to graze past them. After about 15 minutes, the herd finally passed and was accompanied by two men in cowboy pants in pursuit. This was my first sheep experience…quite nerve racking.
Driving through the road, I could tell the colors had not peaked so I decided to drive down another road to shoot pictures at a creek. After about twenty minutes, I noticed a ranger on the main road. By that time, a couple in a Jeep were in the same area with me and we all heard a voice over a bullhorn.
“GET OUT OF THE CREEK!”
He drove down the road towards us. I was more than a bit shocked. Upon speaking to us, he realized we were not doing anything out of the ordinary. Apparently someone reported two Jeeps driving in the creek which were not us. Afterwards, the couple and I spoke a little more. They were very kind, asking about my photography and whether or not I was a professional. We exchanged a few more pleasantries and decided to go our separate ways. I stayed around taking some more pictures and made my way back to town.
Later that day, I headed down Ohio Pass towards Gunnison. This road offered some additional farmland with fenced-in cattle and a number of homes against the beautiful landscape. The following days consisted of me making additional trips in the hopes of a sudden color change but unfortunately I would continue to have to wait.
