More Butte-y at Crested Butte

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After lots of bagels for breakfast , we did a 6 mile 'Upper Loop' hike, over Mt Crested Butte and down into the town of Crested Butte. The hike was beautiful and took us through Aspen trees and meadows covered in wildflowers.

Once at Crested Butte, we stopped at a bar for a few beers and a rest - and in Jon's case, (a huge creamy brownie Sundae) and then walked through town to go on a second hike, to Peanut Lake.

Jon and I are so taken with this town. It is really quiet, but so pretty. The houses are all really quirky and different, which is refreshing, as everything is so 'cookie cutter' in the UK. I love that term, so glad I got a chance to use it. Even the dentist's practice is in a cute little house - much more inviting than a sterile, run down building in West Ealing!

It was another mile and a bit to Peanut Lake, which was pretty, but not swimable (if thats a word) which was a shame, as it was boiling hot.

We headed back after an hour or so (and were quite proud of our 8 miles walking today) but cheated and got the fre shuttle back up to Mount Crested Butte. By the time we got back to our room, we were caked in mud, sweat and mossie bites.

We spent an hour in the pool to cool off before driving back to Crested Butte for dinner. I had seen a Nepalese place earlier that I really wanted to go back to. The Sherpa Cafe was down a little side street, but did the most amazing food. It was run by a Nepalese family, who use family recipes. We had dhal soup, which was incredible and samosas, which were baked in a clay oven rather than fried. Then curry and the best nan I have ever had. I recommend this place so highly - please go visit Crested Butte and Sherpa Cafe. We got chatting to the owner about our visit to Crested Butte and told him about our adventurous 8 mile hike and then he told us he had walked to Aspen earlier in the day (a 7 hour hike up and down mountains). Doh! It turned out that he has climbed to the summit of Everest three times (and even said it isnt that hard). He was going back as a guide in August. He recommended some other mountains to hike up in Tibet (as Jon wants to do one there). He was a really lovely guy and very welcoming. Again, I rate this place. The whole meal cost $33 which was an awesome price too.

18th June

We sat by the pool reading an swan a bit in the morning and headed into town to scout out a place to watch the England-Ukraine game tomorrow. I walked into a bar that looked vaguely English (The West End pub) and asked the owner if he knew of anywhere that would be showing it. He said he would open up his private function room upstairs and screen it on a projector for us, which was really nice of him. Sorted.

Jon wanted to see the Croatia-Russia game, so we drank beer and watched it in the Kochevas Bar - I felt unnerved as a massive bison head was positioned right next to the TV and Im sure it was staring at me. It made me feel guilty

We headed back to our hotel and the pool for the afternoon.

19th June

Packed and checked out odf our lovely condo at 10.30am. Headed down to Crested Butte for the last time. We had a little wander around town, taking in the prettiness once more, before settling in at the West End Pub for the game. We were the only ones watching it, so I had to cheer extra loud. We left wuite drunk, but happy with the result.

It took 4.5 hours to get home.

20th June

Back to semi reality (I say semi, as reality will be when I head back to rainy England). Gym, spent ages skyping mum and Zoe. Did some job applications (ready for reality) and Jon and I met up with Jorge for dinner, who is back in town for two weeks.

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