Maroon Bells in the Aspen Snowmass Wilderness

My husband and I celebrated an anniversary recently, and spent a few days in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. While we were there I wanted to take a side trip to the Aspen Snowmass area where the iconic Maroon Bells Mountains are located.  We began our drive early in the morning on CO 82 East passing beautiful autumn scenery along the way.

Although peak autumn color was probably a week before, there were still plenty of color to light up the hills in shades of gold.....

...and a few reds and oranges were also in the mix, making a lovely patchwork quilt of tree color.

When we turned onto to Maroon Creek Road, County Road 13, to approach the USDA Forest Service Snowmass Wilderness Area where Maroon Bells are located, I was very excited to see their peaks in the distance!

We were fortunate to be able to drive into the Snowmass Wilderness area to see the Maroon Bells Scenic area, as between June 11 and Oct 2 only shuttle buses are allowed to bring visitors between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM, due to the high volume of visitors. Shuttle bus information can be found on the USDA White River National Forest web site at this link.  We visited at a later date in October so we were able to drive in, and our America the Beautiful Senior Pass was accepted as payment.

Driving along the aspen tree lined road was beautiful.

The pristine White River National Forest was filled with color

All the while I could see the Maroon Bells peaks in the distance beneath a blue sky.

The 14,000 foot Maroon Bell Mountains are the most photographed mountains in North America. They lie in a glacial valley with Maroon Lake in front of them that often reflects the mountains on a clear weather day.  The mountains are part of the Elk Mountain Range and are composed of metamorphic sedimentary mudstone that has hardened into rock over millions of years.  The mudstone gives the mountains their maroon color, and their triangular shape gives them their name.

After parking, we looked at the information placards...

...and then began walking on a short trail towards the mountains.  I noticed the blue sky we saw on the drive in quickly being replaces by heavy clouds

Finally, my first full view of the maroon Bell Mountains! Maroon Lake was not mirror like due to the weather, and the blue sky had disappeared, so my photos would not win any awards, but I was too excited to care.

I've seen so many photos of these mountains that seeing them in person was a thrill for me! 

This was the view to their right...

...and to their left....

....and the view looking back to where most people stand to take the mountain's photo, along the shore of Maroon Lake.  There can be hundreds of photographers there lined up here at dawn, to take their photo as the sunrise lights them in alpenglow.

There are many scenic hiking trail options in the area and we took the easiest trail along the lake towards the mountains to get a closer view.

 The autumn aspen color was still strong in this area and made a beautiful forefront for the mountains.

There was a foot bridge at the end of the lake, leading towards a continuation of the trail.

As we crossed over the bridge it began to snow!  I was so excited to see it snowing heavily on the mountains, as snowflakes also drifted toward us.

The mountains became almost impossible to see, due to the snow white out.  It was such a beautiful sight and an experience I'll always remember.

We waited awhile, but the snow continued, so we walked back towards the parking lot, taking a few last looks at the mountains in all their changing season magnificence.

I was very happy to have visited this area of Colorado in the fall season, and to be able to check off a sight on my list of places I've been wanting to see for a long time. We had some other long awaited adventures on our anniversary trip, and I'll be showing them on a future post!

I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

Amaze Me Monday, Mosaic Monday, All Seasons, Blue Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Mosaic Monday, Inspiration Monday, Blogging Grandmothers, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Photo Tunes, Tuesday Talk, Tuesday Treasures, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday,Wordless Wednesday, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Share Your Cup Thursday,Little Things Thursday,  No Rules Blog Linky, Travel Photo Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friday Photo Journal, Skywatch Friday, Sweet Inspiration, Weekend Travel Inspiration,  Pink Saturday, Over the Moon, Happiness Is Homemade

Thank you to all the blog hosts!