Gothic Road (Gunnison County Road 317), Crested Butte, CO, 9/26/2011
Near the end of a day photographing early autumn colors around the town of Gothic, Colorado I headed south from there on Gothic Road (Gunnison County Road 317). At a curve in the road I noticed how beautiful Crested Butte looked in the late afternoon sunshine against a sky of dramatic clouds. Crested Butte is a mountain peak butte of the Elk Mountains. Its elevation is 12,168 feet above sea level, and it has a local prominence of 2,582 feet. I found this view from 9,000 feet above sea level between the nearby towns of Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. In the distance Washington Gulch marks the end of the nearly level grassland and the beginning of the ascent to the peak. This region is well known for its outdoor recreational activities, which include skiing, rock climbing, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, hunting, and fishing. The Elk Mountains are a high, rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of west-central Colorado. Much of the range is located within the White River National Forest and the Gunnison National Forest. It provides a formidable barrier to travel and is traversed only by backroad passes and trails. The range has been the site of mining operations since the days of the Colorado Silver Boom, which saw the founding of mining towns such as Aspen and Ashcroft. In the late 19th century, the western and southern flank of the range became the site of intense coal mining that continues to the present day. The Elk Mountains receive a great deal of snowfall due to their position west of the continental divide and the westerly origin of most winter storms.
