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We arrived back from Alaska to hot summer days in Denver, just what we wished for! We partied with our Denver friends from PT and med school and caught a Rockies baseball game. On Labor day we fought the front range traffic and headed up to Vail, stopping along the way to bike near Lake Dillon. We had a great time visiting with cousin Mike and his wife Chris in Vail. We all hiked to the top of Shrine Mountain and took in the majestic views of the Gore mountain range.
From there we were off to Aspen to hike the Four Pass Loop around the famous Maroon Bells. We had to quickly acclimatize to Colorado hiking, lots of steep grades, warm sunshine and altitude. The elevation of the trail ranged from 9500-12,500 feet over 26 miles.
The first night we camped in the valley just below West Maroon Pass. The next morning as we were trudging up and up, Ryan looked up at the ridge in front of us and said, “that can’t be our trail” speaking of the rock band way up in the distance, but it was! The great part of this hike was that we had new sweeping views over every pass. We camped in the Fravert basin on night two after climbing over the second pass of the day, Frigid Air pass.
The next day we hiked past King Falls then up and over Trail Rider Pass. At the top of Trail Rider pass we were greeted with the spectacular landscape of Snowmass Peak and the crystal clear deep blues of Snowmass Lake.
We spend the afternoon relaxing on the shores of the lake soaking up the sunshine. On our last day we celebrated completing our four passes after climbing Buckskin pass.
We did not see much wildlife along the way. However, at the trailhead we came across a bull moose and a cow eating vegetation in Maroon Lake, surrounded by tourists snapping pictures!
The Four Pass Loop was an awesome way to get back into Colorado hiking. Keeping with tradition we celebrated with beers and burgers in Aspen.
From Aspen we headed to New Castle to spend some wonderful family time Uncle Garry and Aunt Stacey Millard and their family. We had a blast exploring the area: cave exploring near Rifle Falls, biking the Glenwood Canyon and hiking to Hanging Lake, and enjoying a beautiful fall day in Vail. We can’t wait to see them again very soon! We feel so very lucky to have this time to catch up with everyone!
Our plan is to spend the rest of September exploring southern Colorado. We are headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison today then Ouray, Telluride, Durango, Santa Fe, The Great Sand Dunes, and climbing in Penitente canyon. We are meeting Julie in Steamboat Springs at the beginning of October before we head over to Salt Lake. Let the adventure continue!
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