Heading west from Knoxville via I-40 you follow I-24 as it leaves Nashville and head into Kentucky for a bit before you get into Illinois. Northwest to St. Louis and I-70 all the way through Kansas and on into Colorado to Colorado Springs. Then southwest to Gunnison and head north for less than an hour and voila! Crested Butte.

The Festival certainly brings in more artists but CB is already an art town. After 45 years of hosting festivals it couldn't help but be one. There are galleries up and down Elk Ave. There's a lot of public art and some of the more interesting work is by Sean Guerrero. The Center For The Arts in Crested Butte purchased a chrome horse of his and its one of the first things you see as you drive into town. Mubuhay on Elk Ave. displays his work year-round. The craziest thing I've ever seen is parked out back. He converted a 1944 Beachcraft C18 into his personal travel trailer. Scroll over the photos to see a link to his website and blog.

From Wikipedia,

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a United States National Park located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service. There are two primary entrances to the park: the south rim entrance is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Montrose, while the north rim entrance is 11 miles (18 km) south of Crawford and is closed in the winter. The park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile (77 km) long Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into Curecanti National Recreation Area and downstream into Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. The canyon's name owes itself to the fact that parts of the gorge only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day, according to Images of America: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. In the book, author Duane Vandenbusche states, "Several canyons of the American West are longer and some are deeper, but none combines the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and dread of the Black Canyon.

My take,

This was a side trip my trusty navigator suggested and I'm glad she did. Well worth the extra time to visit. Margie read a description from a travel guide book and I was skeptical but when we pulled in at the first overlook I was amazed. Totally different from the Grand Canyon but the depth of the canyon and the shape of the walls of the gorge and the river below puts it on par with the more visited and well known National Park. We were able to spend a few hours there but if you go plan for longer and if you're really adventurous hit up the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and the Curecanti National Recreation Area.

After the experience of Black Canyon stop, vehicle's navigator chose a path to Jackson that relied minimally on the Interstate. (At this point I highly recommend William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways.) The route took us north on State Route 50 to Grand Junction for a minuscule amount of time on I-70 and then north on State Hwy 139 and west on 64 to Dinosaur, Colorado. From there State Hwy 64 northwest into Utah. 191 north, west on 44 and northeast on 530 into Wyoming. Past the Flaming Gorge Nat'l. Recreation Area, parallel to the Green River. Back on I-80 west and then up 191 to Jackson. Not interstate, not boring.

Jackson and Crested Butte have two entirely different vibes. Crested Butte is more laid back, its certainly a tourist destination as is Jackson but there seemed to be more traffic and tourists with more things to do and see than in Crested Butte. But hey, The Grand Tetons are just 30 minutes up the road and less than an hour from there you're in Yellowstone. As far as the art festivals, one was MUCH better than the other. I'll let you guess which. Talking to a few locals in Crested Butte, I discovered the main drag, Elk Ave., not too long ago wasn't even paved. So taking advantage of our early arrival we spent a couple of days camping and taking in as much as we could of both the Tetons and Yellowstone.

I spent most of a day exploring the Elk Refuge just outside of Jackson. Elk, Bison and Bighorn sheep migrate to the refuge in the late fall and winter. Its nearly 25,000 acres and extends to the west to the Tetons and northeast of the town of Jackson.

Almost 3 weeks later we head home with a great adventure under our belt. Successful on the art front as well. May have to make a return to Crested Butte. If you ever get a chance to make this trip, do. But don't wait till you're in your 60's. Camping is not for sissies.