In all my years living in the West (more than 35), I had never been to Aspen, Colorado. And I had never been to see the Maroon Bells, in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass wilderness just southwest of Aspen. I guess I saved the best for now.
Though these photos taken in midday largely wash out the color, the Maroon Bells are actually maroon, and as you can see they are shaped much like bells. They are, according to the Forest Service, the most photographed mountains in North America. North Maroon Peak (on the right) rises to 14,014 feet above sea level; South Maroon Peak to 14,156 feet.
Maroon Creek Road ends just above Maroon Lake. These photos were taken in that area. We took a short hike, but downstream away from the panorama.
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I’m reading Halfway to Heaven, by Mark Obmascik, about his efforts to hike all 54 14ers in CO in one year. The most compelling and heart-rending chapter is about someone else’s failed attempt at the Maroon Bells in the snow. Tragic. (The books so-so, but this one chapter is great.)
In my mis-spent youth I would pack wine and other things up to Conundrum hot springs, a 9 mile uphill hike. There, as I sat in a natural 102 degree hot tub, amazingly fit women would arrive disrobe and join me. It gave new meanig to “wilderness experience.”
Wally, in my circle of friends, those young women were called “Nature Nummies.”