Colorado 14ers

14er- a mountain with an elevation above 14,000 feet.
Colorado contains 54 14ers, or 77% of the 14ers on the mainland United States, making it the highest state in the US.

In the next series of blogs, I will be talking about different 14ers in Colorado's Elk Mountain Range and surrounding areas and ranking them based on their difficulty.

Vinotok September 18-24th

The 26th Annual Vinotok Fall Harvest Festival is a time to celebrate the autumn equinox, the bounty of the summer's harvest, and a time for the community to gather before winter.

Sept 18th- Celebration of the Harvest Mother on Elk Avenue between 1st and 2nd streets- to celebrate and honor people's connection to the earth and the bounty she provides. There will be performances of Vinotok poetry starting at 10am.

       The festival begins with the weekly summer farmers' market on September 18th with additional Vinotok activities, including wreath making, grump boxes, street theatre, and more.

Sept. 19-21- the sharing the ancient traditions, multicultural stories and mythology of the festival at Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum from 7 - 9 p.m.

Liar's Night celebrates the tradition of tall tales, whoppers and adventure stories blown out of proportion that are shared on Thursday evening, Sept. 22 at The Eldo, beginning at 8 p.m.

The Community Feast, featuring regionally harvested dishes of roast pig, corn, mixed vegetables, potatoes and traditional Croatian and Slovenian foods, will be held on Friday, Sept. 23, 5:30 p.m. at the Crested Butte Depot. Local musicians, writers and poets will provide the entertainment.

The Saturday of Vinotok, Sept. 24, medieval characters accompanied by torchbearers and flag bearers roam the streets and enter restaurants singing harvest songs, dancing and inviting all to participate in the evening's festivities from 5-7:30 p.m. A street production will be held in front of The Eldo on Elk Avenue at 7:30 p.m.

Crested Butte Film Festival, Gunnison & Crested Butte , Sept. 29 - Oct. 2

Films, discussions and merriment are on tap for this new festival that takes place during one of the prime leaf-viewing weekends of fall. Look for Academy Award nominees, films from Cannes and Sundance and many unknown gems. Most of the films will be Colorado premieres. 

The festival kicks off on Sept. 29 with "Sneak Peek Gunnison" with a double feature of movies showing at the Gunnison Arts Center and the Ruby Theatre, located on the campus of Western State College of Colorado. For information, visit http://www.crestedbuttefilmfestival.org/ or call (303) 204-9080. 

ArtWalk Evening, Studios & Galleries in Crested Butte- Sept. 29

Come to Art Walk Evenings and visit the galleries of Crested Butte, hosted by the Artists of the West Elks. Here is a list of participating galleries:

1. John Ingham Gallery | 403 3rd Street | 349-5174
2. Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery | 409 3rd Street | 349-5936
3. Rijks Family Gallery | 310 2nd Street | 349-5289
4. Paragon Gallery | 132 Elk Avenue | 349-6484
5. Icehouse Art & Atelier | 2010 1/2 2nd St | 349-1212
6. Susan Anderton Fine Art | Third and Elk | 349-1202
7. J.C. Leacock Photo Gallery | 327 Elk Ave | 901-0087
8. Open Your Eyes Gallery | 413 Elk Avenue | 275-6111
9. Ice Mountain Jewelry | 311 6th Street | 349-6331


September 29
5:00 – 8:00 pm

For more information, visit http://www.awearts.org/.

Woods Walk Trail Fun Run- September 28, 2011 at 6PM

See how you measure up against Crested Butte’s finest student athletes. Run with the High School Cross Country team on a mellow end of season run from Crested Butte to Peanut Mine and return on the old railroad grade. All proceeds from this run will go to the Titan Booster Club supporting High School sports. Distance 4 miles. Meet at The Brick Oven on Elk Avenue in Crested Butte. The run will be followed by pizza at The Brick and the drawing for the Paradox Footwear fun run raffle.

For more information, visit Crested Butte Mtn. Runners.

Crested Butte Fall Color Classic 1/2 Marathon- September 25

The Crested Butte Fall Color Classic is a beautiful half marathon from Kebler Pass down Ohio Pass during the peak of the changing aspen leaves. This race is almost entirely on dirt road with only about 100 feet of pavement. The descent offers breathtaking views of the Ohio Creek Valley and one of the most scenic aspen groves of in the state.

Saturday, September 24th at 9:00AM
The cost is $50, and you can register here.
For more information visit Crested Butte Fall Color Classic.

Gunnison Valley Observatory Open for Public Viewings! September 15-16

The gates to the observatory are opened at 8:00pm, no reservations are required. A "Summer Nights Program" will be held on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer. Viewers are invited to come and enjoy a mini-lecture on a variety of interesting astronomy topics and then view the night sky through the 30" telescope and a few amateur telescopes. Suggested donation for the Summer Series is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children.

Visit Gunnison Observatory for more details!