2012/06 Western USA trip - Maroon Bells |
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Tuesday June 26th
We had been to Maroon Bells before, with Sandie’s Mum, back in 1991, but sometimes previous experience doesn’t help. It was already apparent that things had changed; the two lane road into Aspen was now four lanes, with some lanes bus-only or high occupancy only, and it was obvious that Aspen itself has a parking problem. Parking towers don’t help us with our eleven foot height. Eventually I found that the shuttles now go from the Aspen Highlands, close to the Bells
The shuttle drive up the mountain is scenic with red cliffs, green and blue spruce, and flowers along the road. The view of the Maroon Bells (bell-shaped mountains) across the lake is still as beautiful. (I wonder if the new owners of our last trailer are still gazing at my 1991 photo of the Bells on their wall.) The view in the other direction of red jagged peaks is almost as good, but usually the last thing anyone sees.
This was a cooler day with spots of rain, but we opted to hike around Maroon Lake and up to Crater Lake. This was about a four mile 
round trip and across a rocky area so it was a bit more than John and Edna had tackled so far, but they did well. The trail took us up to and across some avalanche slopes, home to many pikas. There were some large and noisy groups hiking the trail but we managed to find a quiet spot for lunch at the lake amongst the mass of timber that had been blown there by the wind.
Sandie was having knee problems so she set off back before us, and she missed some of the pika action but she got to see a moose wading through Maroon Lake. Back by the bus stop was a large colony of marmots, obviously there so they could watch the tourists. On our way down on the shuttle Sandie and I spotted the moose again, but the driver didn’t stop, so we have no pictures and John and Edna were on the wrong side.
We had a little rain that night, a rare event on this part of the trip.
These were just a few of the flowers we saw in the meadows around Maroon Bells and our hike up to Crater Lake.