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!

The John Denver Sanctuary in Aspen, Colorado

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We had friends visiting Colorado from New York for a month this summer. Their first grandchild was born to their son and daughter-in-law, who live in a suburb in the Denver area, and they were excited to spend time with the new parents and grandbaby.  While they stayed nearby, we had a lot of fun showing them some of our favorite Colorado sights, and also some sights that were new to us.  One of those new sights for us, that I had heard about and wanted to see, was the John Denver Sanctuary in Aspen, Colorado.  (This photo, and all photos in this post, can be enlarged for easier viewing by clicking in them.)

Our drive west to Aspen took a little over 3 hours. We took the beautifully scenic Independence Pass to cross the Continental Divide. (See a prior post--click here--we made over the pass in June)  When we entered Aspen we could see the ski runs in the mountains.  Aspen attracts people from around the world for it's year round recreation and renown festivals, and it has some of the highest real estate property in the nation.

Aspen is also known for its high end restaurants, boutiques and landmarked buildings dating back from its Gold Rush days. We had a nice time walking around the town to look at the sights and to have lunch.

I always wanted to see the John Denver Sanctuary, so after lunch we headed towards the eastern end of downtown Apen near Rio Grande Park, where it is located along the Roaring Fork River.

John Denver, whose real name was Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., was one of the most famous best selling acoustic singer/songwriter of the 1970's in the United States. He, and his first wife, Annie, moved to Aspen in 1971, just as his recording career was beginning to be a success.  Although they divorced in 1982, they both continued to live in Aspen.  Sadly, at age 53, John Denver was killed when the small experimental plane he was flying crashed on October 12, 1997 near Pacific Grove, California.

Walking into the sanctuary area we were greeted by this stone, surrounded by flowers, which stated:  

John Denver Sanctuary

 Earth, Water, Mountain, Sky, Pause, Reflect, Enjoy

 The sanctuary path was lined with both boulders and flowers and accented by the sound of water and ...

...small gentle waterfalls.

It was serene and beautiful.

We approached steps that had a boulder on top that announced "John's Song Garden."

There, arranged in a circle formation, were large and small boulders that were inscribed with song lyrics that John Denver wrote.....

...and included this tribute stone to his life, which stated: "I am a song, I live to be sung, I sing with all my heart.'

One of John Denver's most popular songs was "Rocky Mountain High."  

 Please click on to enlarge.

Other boulders contained other song lyrics.  I think bedsides Rocky Mountain High, "Annie's Song" is one of my favorites, as well as "Take Me Home, Country Roads."  Do you have a favorite John Denver song?  

I'm sure I missed a few boulders with lyrics, as we spent quite a bit of time reading the ones we saw, and enjoying the tranquility of the area. All too soon it was time to head back to the garage where we parked our car, as we had a long drive back.

I was glad to have spent part of the time I had in Aspen at the John Denver Sanctuary. Every year in October, there is a remembrance celebration held here and in other areas of Colorado, for John Denver. This will be the 20th anniversary of his passing and with the area's surrounding aspen trees turning autumnal colors it must be very beautiful to visit at that time.

Driving back east on Interstate 70, with mountains on the horizon--a sight that still fills me with awe!

It is hard to believe that summer will be coming to a close soon and my grandchildren will be heading back to school. It will be a busy time for my family and I am anticipating that I may take a little blog break, but I will be back soon!

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

Amaze Me 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

Thank you to all the blog hosts!

Independence Pass, Colorado, Part One

I'm so sorry for my two-week absence from blogging.  My new computer took longer to arrive than I anticipated and then I had a problem with being unable to download the Google Picasa editing program, which I have been using for ten years, as Google no longer offers a download of the program. I tried their new Google Photos format and did not like it at all for editing. In my opinion, it is much less user-friendly than Picasa. After much searching of Google forums, I did find a Picasa download I could trust, offered through a third party, so I'm happy to say I'm back in business!

Whenever my husband and I drive west on I-70 we reach a portion of the road where this view of the Rocky Mountains--seen in the photo above--is ahead.  It always reminds me of the John Muir quote: "The mountains are calling, and I must go." At the end of May, we heard that Independence Pass had opened for the season, and we decided on the spur of the moment to take a drive there, as we've heard from many people what a beautiful drive over the continental divide it was! Come along for the ride, as I'll take you with me through my photos....and remember, all photos and collages will enlarge when clicked on.

We soon passed through the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel, The highest vehicular tunnel in the world, at 11,013 feet elevation.

There are steep grades of descent after coming out of the tunnel, which always raise the hair on the back of my neck in terror, so thankfully my husband remains well in control as the driver while I take photos...

...and soon we are passing ski resorts...

...and breathtaking mountain scenery.

We were supposed to enter Independence Pass going west near the town of Leadville, but we made a wrong turn which lead us away in the wrong direction, so instead, we decided we would continue west to Glenwood Springs, and then turn back towards Aspen and drive back through Independence Pass going east.

We passed some beautiful and interesting topography along the way. Living in this state makes me wish I had a degree in geology so that I would understand all the different rock formations that I see.

We entered the Glenwood Canyon Area--excuse the glare on the car windshield in this photo.

Driving through the canyon made me feel like I entered the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. High and deep craggy canyon walls surrounded us at times and mesa steps were covered with moss and shrubs.

I almost expected to view a Hobbit, or two, waving at me from one of the ledges!

Distinctive reddish sandstone cliffs surround Glenwood Springs.

We drove through the town without stopping and turned east, but we have a trip planned to visit Glenwood Springs later in the year.

Soon we had a beautiful first view of Mt Sopris.

Mt Sopris is a twin-summit mountain in the northwestern Elk Mountain range of the Rocky Mountains. The 12,965-foot (3,952 m) mountain is located in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness of White National Forest.

Soon we entered Aspen. At slightly less than 8,000 feet elevation, the snow had almost disappeared from this world renowned ski area. 

This view near the town reminded me of a scene from Europe.

We passed through the town...we will definitely return again one day...

... and headed east on Highway 82 toward Independence Pass.

We passed many magnificent aspen groves along the way, which made it apparent how the town of Aspen had gotten its name.

Highway 82 also passes through the White River National Forest topped with snow-capped mountains...

...and even more aspen trees that were in spring bloom.

At certain points, the highway narrows down to one lane and reduced speed is required.

Cars stop to allow opposite traveling cars to pass by.

All the while the views surrounding us are endless!

Highway 82 is twisty and curvy but does not feel dangerous. There are pull-offs where one can camp, hike, find restrooms, and picnic. The Grottos Trail is popular and passes a waterfall.

As we continued to drive to higher elevations we began to see snow on the ground, even though this was late May. Because of heavy snowfall in this area Highway 82 is usually closed sometime in October through mid to the end of May.

We saw another 14,000-foot mountain, La Plata Peak ahead. 

When we passed the ruins of an old mill alongside the highway we knew we were approaching the ghost town of Independence.

Please click on the photo to enlarge

We pulled off to a parking area to explore this once-thriving mining town of 1,500 people and over forty businesses.  

I'll show you what we saw in my next blog post, Part Two of our journey over Independence Pass! Click here to read that post which includes the Independence Ghost Town.

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