Maroon Bells

After seeing 12k feet on Independence Pass and not being able to see into the Aspen valley, I decided to take a scouting trip to Maroon Bells where tomorrow I had planned on doing the 4 Pass Loop.

Some Aspen...

The Bells

Sievers Mountain

Highland Peak (12,382') from Crater Lake Trail

North and South Maroon Peak (14,156' and 14,014')

Pyramid Peak (14,018') on the left. In the center is the area near West Maroon Pass, the first of the four passes in the 4 Pass Loop.

The Bells above Maroon Lake

The Bells and Sleeping Sexton

Tomorrow, I'll be skipping the 4 Pass Loop. There's just too much snow on the passes and considering most of the loop is above 11,000', there will likely be snow covering most of it. I'll likely hangout in Aspen, maybe take a trip down Castle Creek Road and do a short (4 mile) hike to Cathedral Lake. Or possibly a trip to Snowmass and short (2 mile) hike down Maroon Snowmass Trail to see Snowmass Mountain (14,092') and Capitol Peak (14,130').

Independence Pass

Independence Pass (12,095') is the highest paved mountain pass in Colorado. It connects Twin Lakes on the east with Apsen on the west.

Starting at Twin Lakes

Then up CO 82

The snow got heavier as the road climbed.

 And soon it became too steep and narrow to take photos.

Finally at the top!

The road up.

The view to the southeast.

And the west (Aspen is out there somewhere).

On the way down, I stopped at Independence Ghost Town.

Brown's Pass

The plan for today (as explained yesterday) was a trip up to Brown's Pass in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. The low pressure system over Nebraska had moved some 25 miles east overnight and the prediction of 6"16" of snow turned into some flurries over Denver and maybe a dusting in the Front Range. Good news for me.


Brown's Pass is accessed from the Denny Creek Trailhead off of Cottonwood Pass Road. This is also the main trailhead for Mt. Yale, but that's not on the agenda for today - ice picks required today. Brown's Pass Trail starts uphill at 10000' and doesn't stop until you reach the pass 3.5 to 4 miles and 2000 vertical feet later.

The drive up Cottonwood Pass Road

The trail started with a climb.

And crossed Denny Creek several times.

At times, it opened to views of the valley.

And sometimes views of neighboring peaks.

It climbed through Aspen groves.

And as the Aspen turned to Spruce, the forest floor became snow covered.

Finally the pass came into view.

The views from the pass...

Looking North, you can see the Three Apostles, Emerald Peak and Mt. Harvard.

And South...

A Tale of Two Seasons (Buffalo Peaks Wilderness)

Today I left Colorado Springs and headed west on US-24. The Front Range had snow on the ground above 7500' or so, but the roads were clear. 

Today's destination was Buffalo Peaks Wilderness for a loop around the Rich Creek and Rough & Tumble Creek Trails. but first were views of South Park Plateau (panorama photo coming later).

South Park Plateau was completely free of snow, so I decided to go ahead and make my way down gravel County roads to the Rich Creek Trailhead at the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness. The Buffalo Peaks (at 13k feet) are some of the southern most peaks of the Mosquito Range that stretches north past Leadville to Breckenridge where the 10 mile range takes over.

The trail started in the forest on the north side of the Buffalo Peaks and circles three unnamed 12k' peaks, near the southern end of the Mosquito Range.

The trail quickly became snow covered.

And opened up into the Rich Creek Meadow.

Then it was back into the woods and over Buffalo Pass.

And then onto Buffalo Meadows.

Then around to the south side of Buffalo Peaks where it was fall (even though Summer didn't end until until 3:19 this afternoon).

The leaves were near their peak.

The Apsen...

Some were past their peak, but the brilliant yellows looked great against the green spruce and the bright white snow.

Running at 10,000 - 11,600 feet wasn't that bad. No signs of altitude sickness (though with the cold - at or below freezing for most of the run - I know I didn't drink enough). The up hills were tough and most of them were hiked, but some of that was because I ran more yesterday than I was planning. I got in 14+ miles today and 2000+ feet of climbing. My time was a bit slow because I misplaced the trail a couple of times. The first time was in the Rich Creek Meadow where I spent several minutes literally walking in circles until I found where the trail crossed the creek for the final time - in hind sight it was pretty obvious. The second time was near West Buffalo Pass and I picked up the trail without missing a step. The final time took a long time to find the correct trail. There were lots of animal trails and social/hinting trails and I think I took most of them before I gave up, found my way across Rough and Tumble Creek and headed straight up the mountain where fortunately I quickly came across the tail back to the trailhead.


Next up, I drove around the bottom of the Mosquitos and saw the Collegiate Peaks of the Sawatch range.

Mt. Princeton towers over the Banana Belt and Buena Vista.

I'm in Salida tonight at the top of the Sange de Cristo and the bottom of the Sawatch.


Tomorrow? If the weather holds up as well as it does today, I'll be heading up to Brown's Pass from the Denny Creek Trailhead off of Cottonwood Pass Rd. If the clouds hold off, there will be a great view of the Continential Divide (Brown's Pass is also on the Divide) including some of the Collegiates and the Three Apostles.


The weather forecast? Mt. Elbert and Mt. Evans region is calling for 6"-16" of snow. The low pressure system over Nebraska should affect mostly the Front Range. We'll see how it works out. Frisco has gotten some significant snow and Winter park is covered in it. The weather for the Sawatch? As I've seen, could be anything from partly cloudy to several inches of snow. Plans may change. I hope Independence Pass remain open - both because I'd like to see it and because it's a LONG way to Aspen without that shortcut!


Right now I'm having a beer at Hattie's Pub because the WiFi at the Great Western is Saldia sucks. Next I'm off to dinner - I'm thinking pizza. Calzone at Amicas.

Last Snow of Summer

Today is the last day of Summer. 


First thing was a trip to REI for a pair of Gore Windstopper gloves. These should work great over my wool gloves and be a nice replacement for my old OR gloves that have been slowly torn to pieces. After lunch it was on to Palmar Park. This looks like a beautiful park with lots of trail and some great views. 


The views as you see were not so great today.

While walking into REI the rain and sleet turned to snow. It's too warm down at 6000' for it to stick, but it was falling as snow.


It looks like the snow started sticking around 7500'

After a long trip through downtown and past the velodrome at Memorial Park, it was onto Garden of the Gods. The tour guide didn't show up for the 2 o'clock guided nature tour, so the five of us waiting for it took our own tour from the north parking lot. I ran into them again as they were looking for the Siamese Twins.

I got to Balanced Rock (covered in tourists) and the sun came out.

Clouds were sitting around 10k feet, so Pikes was still out of view.


Web cams for Central CO show a dusting of snow remaining at 8000'-9000' so hopefully I'll be able to stick to plan with Buffalo Peaks at the southern end of the Mosquitos tomorrow. If not, maybe I'll do an out and back on the Continental Divide from Monarch's Pass (the webcam shows snow free there. (note: that was earlier in the day. as of sunset Rt. 50 was snow covered). We'll see how the weather goes. Yes Mom, I'll be carrying a space blanket, first aid kit and matches. 


Dinner: Shish Kabobs and Hummus at The NIle in Manitou Springs


Update: weather forecast isn't looking so hot. Maybe I should stop back at REI for a pair of snowshoes.

Red Rock Canyon Open Space

This morning, I had breakfast with a bunch of cyclists. A couple were taking a bike repair class next door (also next next is Rocky Mountain High Wheels), and several were motor cyclist that also rode bicycles.

The goal for this morning was to beat the storms. There's a big front moving through at the moment. Rain is expected in Colorado Springs with a high around 44. Pikes Peak is expecting 6-10" of snow! This has the potential to affect my plans over the next few days as highs aren't going to get above the mid-50s until Thursday.

Today's run was at Red Rock Canyon Open Space. This is a recent addition to the Colorado Springs Open Space system and sits directly south of the Garden of the Gods. There is a connector trail to the Intemann Trail which can take you to Bear Creek Canon, Stratton Open Space and Cheyene Canon. That makes close to 40 miles of trail only 1/4 mile from my hotel :-) Red Rock Canyon is a series of canyons the once was a quarry, was a landfill and almsot became a golf course (and more landfill). The some trails run up the canyon and others run from canyon to canyon. The park tops out at the connection to the Intemann Trail (around 6800ft) - the low point is at 6200ft.

It was cold this morning, but no rain. the Peak was shrouded in clouds and soon the near by mountains would become coulded as the first wave of the front moved in. After breakfast, I was on the trail by 8am (I guess the time shift helps in getting an early start on things). Running at 6k - 7k feet isn't that bad. I need to remember to keep well hydrated. This side of the mountains is very arid (cactus in the park) and hydration helps with the elevation.

I got in about 1:45 of running (with stops for photos taking) and most of it was running (about 9 miles) - very little walking - except uphill into the 20mph head winds. I ended the run a little early on account on sleet at the higher elevations. 

Here are some photos from this morning:

Looking north towards the Garden of the Gods

Pikes Peak is up there behind the clouds

Some of the red rock trail (I believe this is part of the Roundup Trail)

A view down one of the canyons

Quarry Pass

Snow is on the ground in Woodland Park, Leadville and Fricso. Aspen and Glenwwod Springs still look clear.


The rest of the day? Food shopping, a trip to REI for windproof gloves, Garden of the Gods, a swin in the indoor pool?