We Found Paradise, but Where is Judd Falls?

Some visitors had heard that a little bit north of Crested Butte, Colorado, there is a hiking trail that leads to Judd Falls.  They were advised: You'll know when you get there, because there is a bench to sit on.


On the way to Judd Falls, the visitors found Paradise.  They knew it was Paradise, because that's what the sign on front, just to the right of the door said:

On further up the road from Paradise, they put on their backpacks and started up a trail.  It was late September, and the aspen trees were decked out in fall gold.  The trail split off in a couple of places, and it wasn't very well marked.

They asked the people with the Camelback water bottles.
They asked some people from South Carolina.
They asked the guy from Denver:
Do you know how to get to Judd Falls?
Nobody knew, but they said there was supposed to be a bench there.


They came to a place where they could hear a waterfall, but there was no bench.  Before leaving to walk back down the mountain, they decided to look just a little further.  What do you know!  There was a bench...

...and there was Judd Falls, down near the bottom of a seriously deep canyon.  The following picture doesn't really capture the scene.  It was a beautiful sight, but kinda scary to see someone stand close to the precipice.

Okay, there's one more picture of the hikers sitting on the bench, getting ready to snack on granola bars.