Mom Visiting and Mother-Son Roadtrip

 4/1/26 April Fools.

It was no April Fools that a big storm came in. In total we would get 22". We lost power overnight, and it stayed out until after 10pm. I skied several awesome laps on Snodgrass. Since the power was out, we had no way to cook, though we could stay warm with our fire. Benn and Sophia on the other hand had gas to cook, but no way to heat their house. Though their heater runs on propane, it requires electricity. Regardless, they had us over for a candlelit dinner. 

4/2

More awesome powder skiing on Snodgrass, but the storm was finishing up.

4/3

More powder skiing on Snodgrass

4/4

I got up in the dark and skied out of Gothic to meet my brother for a ski on Axtel Mountain. It was such a beautiful ski out with the full moon and then the dawn with the purple sky before the sunrise, which lit up the mountains pink. It was cool because as I got to where the cars were, our objective, Axtel Mountain was lit up pink with the full moon right above it.

I met up with bro and we drove to Kebler to skin up Axtel. It was a fun ski. Very steep! but good powder. We also did one extra little lap above Green Lake.

When we got back, we met mom and Ellis at Rainbow Park for an Easter Egg hunt in the snow. I then went to the hostel to read and drink tea and hang out. Elisha and I then met mom to get cocktails at Montanyas the rum distillery in town. I got a delicious Chai flavored drink. It was then back up to Zach and Mary's to watch Arizona in the Final Four. Unfortunately they played poorly and lost.

4/5 Happy Easter!

We met mom for church in the morning and then we all headed to the Almont Resort for a truly amazing Easter brunch. Super delicious with prime rib, ham, omelets to order, so much fresh fruit and berries, and more. The desert table was just crazy, including cheesecake, blueberry crumble, and huge cinnamon rolls.

We then skied back to Gothic for the evening

4/6

Elisha headed off for her roadtrip to California. 

I skied out to meet mom for a little Mother-Son road trip. We drove to Grand Junction (and had taco bell!). We checked into our hotel and then drove up to Colorado National Monument. We did the scenic drive and also a couple short hikes to viewpoints. It's very beautiful, reminiscent of Utah scenery in Canyon Country.

We went back to the hotel and rested a bit before walking to a delicious Chinese Buffet.

4/7

Our plan was to bike one of the orchard/wine loops in Palisade (Palisade is famous for its peaches). Since it's low season and was a Tuesday, the bike shops in Palisade weren't open, so we rented mom an e-bike in Grand Jct. She drove the car and my bike to Palisade, and I biked the Colorado River trail to Palisade. Mom and I then did the 25 mile Mesa loop amongst the orchards. It's very pleasant and scenic biking. We stopped at Carlson Winery for a wine tasting. We then had more wine and fancy food at Maison La Belle Vie Winery on a really nice outdoor patio. When we got back to Palisade, I then biked mom's bike back to Grand Junction, getting there just in time for the 6pm bike shop close.

We then drove back to Crested Butte, and I skied back into Gothic.

4/10

The last couple days I've been working hard on cabin openings. The snow is definitely (and sadly) melting quickly. Clawdia has been extra snuggly recently, which is nice since Elisha is gone. I've been doing cross-country skis up the valley, enjoying the snow before it melts away.

Today I watched the Integrity splash down of the Artemis II moon mission, which was cool