Maroon Bells - 2

The big event today was our hike up to Crater Lake at the base of the Maroon Bells.  The mandatory shot above was taken at the beginning of our four mile hike.  The kind-of-maroon, bell shaped mountains are among the most photographed mountains in the world.  In an earlier post I may have commented that we could see these Maroon Bells from the duplex we are renting but I think what we see is Pyramid Peak which is not actually considered one of the "bells".  This hike today was our second annual Crater Lake hike.

I took dozens of photos today of which I have selected just a few to post here, along with some commentary.


The journey officially starts from Aspen Highlands Resort, a nice ski area a couple of miles up Maroon Creek Canyon.  Cars are not permitted to drive much past Aspen Highlands between 9 AM and 5 PM due to overcrowding and air pollution.  Instead one must ride a bus for a small fee.  Along the way the driver provides a nice presentation about the natural history and human history of the area.










At the end of the bus ride there are restrooms and a small visitor center.  From there the hike starts.  Here's the group just raring to go.







As soon as we arrived at Crater Lake, about 45 minutes later, we ripped into our lunch which we purchased at Grateful Deli in Aspen.  After lunch the main activity was rock skipping, or attempting thereof.  The geologic features of the available rock was such that skipping wasn't all that easy.

















 Above is the lunch event, and to the right is the coolest event of the day.

This shot to the left is an attempt at "art".

The photo below is an attempt at "freeloading".

I think it is pretty obvious which attempt was more successful.

































And here is a beautiful shot of a darling little backpack, I mean backpack-er.

On the bus ride down the canyon we met a nice (older) couple who have a home over the hill in Crested Butte.  They had hiked 11 miles in 9 hours to catch the bus down to Aspen.  A friend is going to pick them up in the morning.  They were so exhausted and unsure how to get to their hotel we gladly gave them a lift.

We are now back at the pad and in the process of washing up and refueling - and contemplating a reward scoop.