Final Day

 

The final day of our 17-day Canyon Country trip started with the best Crested Butte breakfasts. McGill’s is located downtown on Elk Avenue.

 

I selected one slice of French toast and sausage patties. McGill’s French toast is dipped in cinnamon sugar before going on the grill. The sweet, crisp crust is perfect. The thick cut pieces makes the one slice serving all I could handle.

 

Eric ordered the breakfast tacos served with hash browns. The tacos looked terrific and I noticed they disappeared even more quickly than my French toast.

 

 

We head to Denver via Cottonwood Pass, while we’re use to the 14-miles of gravel road on the west side of the pass we didn’t know that miles of the road east of Harmel’s Resort  is under major construction this summer. Delays were not an issue since this was Sunday but the rough, dusty, slow surface would make us consider the longer Monarch Pass route this summer.

 

 

Cloudy skies and a few sprinkles accompanied us all the way to Buena Vista. We decided to make a side trip to St. Elmo 20 miles southwest of Buena Vista. On the National Register of Historic Places St. Elmo is known as one of Colorado’s best preserved ghost towns. Founded in 1880, the town grew to 2000 residents – mostly gold and silver miners.

 

 

 

 

All the remaining buildings are in private ownership and are in various degrees of repair/disrepair. The original Town Hall burnt down in 2002; Buena Vista Heritage has built a replica complete with jail cell in the rear. The St. Elmo General Store opens from mid-May to October offering an eclectic mix of antiques, souvenirs, ATV  and cabin rental, cold drinks and ice cream bars.