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Mdv's Aspen Colorado trip report

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mdv:
Wednesday - Day 4
Today was the big day ; we were going to do maroon bells. After speaking to a few people people including one of the St Regis butlers it was clear that Maroon Bells is definitely a must see and if we were doing one hike that's the one we should do.

We got all geared up with my baby carrier I borrowed from my bil (one of the most embarrassing things to use in public lol), and my fake camelback (just the pouch and the hose) from amazon.

On the way out we stopped at the concierge to get some details . We had looked into it previously but just wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything . Sure enough he informed us that since we were bringing our kid we didn't have to take the shuttle and we can drive all the way to the trailhead.

The drive was a short but beautiful 25 minute drive from aspen. We got to the park entrance and the lady asked us if we made a reservation as they were trying to limit the amount of visitors due to covid . We had no idea (and really the concierge should have known that and informed us ) , but thankfully she took our ten dollars and let us in.

We parked at the trailhead parking lot and started the hike. There are 2 lakes which make up this trail; maroon lake and crater lake . We didn’t realize it but maroon lake is literally right at the beginning of the hike and that is literally the nicest postcard perfect view. (Obviously pictures dont do it justice blah blah blah..... but it's true)



The colors of the lake are really amazing - red around the edges give way to green towards the middle, with the snow capped peaks in the background to complete the picture. I didn't think the colors of the lake would come out without a quality camera but my phone worked fine .



The trail goes along the side of the maroon lake and then into the forest. There are a bunch of options of hikes with varying lengths and difficulty level so with the baby and all we decided to do the 1.5 mile option.
We followed the trail into the forest and passed some nice rushing streams and waterfalls. It was actually harder than I expected and it was a bit of a challenge doing it with an extra 15 or so pounds. The trail loops around and you end up where you started and honestly there was nothing really that special about the hike so it wasn't really necessary. We just did it because we got all geared up. It would be a different story if we had been able to go to the second lake, crater lake, which is like a 3 mile hike if I recall correctly.
We headed back to the beginning and took some more pictures.
The sun is very strong even though you don't feel it and I got a bit burnt on my arms and neck as I didnt think I needed sunscreen.





Time lapse (sorry it's a bit choppy I was adjusting the angle) . You can see how the colors of the lake disappear when the sun goes behind a cloud.



Our wheels



This is coolest thing I've ever seen in my backup camera!



All these pictures I got were obviously just during the day but if you can hack it to stay overnight and camp out , you can get a whole extra dimension at sunrise and sunset . Otherwise you are limited to park hours which is closed at those times.
After all said and done this was definitely the highlight of our whole trip and it didn't disappoint. It's the same idea as lake louise in banff but obviously different colours and scale, and it's not right next to the town.

We were quite tired out so we headed back. I had put some nice looking rib eye in the sous vide earlier



I took them out and seared them and they came out amazing... almost restaurant grade!

mdv:
Another thing I want to point out is that we didn't really see any wildlife which was probably because we were only out during midday , but still surprising especially since there has been less tourists lately due to covid.

Random fact about the St Regis - apparently their coffee condiment kits are made in..... wait for it ......



That's right!! Good old Lakewood new jersey..... you really can't get away !

We packed up that night and the next morning drive back through the gorgeous rockies to denver , returned our car, and had an uneventful flight back to Philly. Southwest again let us bring our car seat on the plane on the emty seat. I found that as long as I was confident about they didn't give me issues... I didn't even have to collapse it until we were actually on the plane- I just told them that it folds up and they had no issues.

That about wraps up this trip report... I hope you enjoyed !

Here's some more drive-lapses and pictures

mdv:
PSA : For all the youtube links you gotta select 1080p for the quality because for some reason the automatic quality is very low.

Joel:

--- Quote from: mdv on July 15, 2020, 12:14:20 AM ---then to East side deli to pick up our order and I got some wine there as well. ( I had bought back at home a nice bottle of yarden cab and a castel rose' but the wife was too nervous to bring in luggage - I ended up getting some cheaper stuff in denver because the selection was pretty weak and the good stuff was way too expensive - oh well, sigh. First world problems. )


--- End quote ---

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