Maroon Bells: Day 1
Maroon Bells: Day 1
7/18/2022
West Maroon Portal - Pine Shelf Camp
Miles hiked: 7.2 mi
Elevation gained: 3,022 ft (9,631 - 12,504 - 11,703)
Animals seen: moose, marmot, bold-ass chipmunk, way too many mosquitoes
Elevation chart created on AllTrails.com
The alarm was jaring at 6am and I slept for a bit longer while the guys showered. Our goal was to be on the road no later than 7:30am to make our shuttle in Aspen. Wanna take bets?
A pit stop for brekkie at the local coffee shop and we were in the car heading towards Aspen at 7:35am. Not too bad for our group.
When we arrived at Aspen Highlands, we discovered that parking was $40/day. WTF. There was a lot of indecision and ideas thrown around, each more unreasonable than the last until we just buckled down and decided to pay for it. The shuttle nazi lady really needed a joint in her life. Jake had to make a last minute rush to the car leaving me with an extra pack, coffee, and pair of hiking poles. Unable to move closer to the arriving shuttle had me sweating a bit but in true Jake fashion, he arrived in the nick of time and we were safely on the shuttle.
The shuttle driver was awesome. She did a quick stop so we could all gawk at a moose off the side of the road. And again for a marmot a little further down. Three guys across the aisle from us were planning on doing the loop in the same direction as us, except they planned on summiting some 14er’s along the way. Absolutely nuts.
The trailhead was packed. It was like a weekend on a SoCal hike with the swarm of people there. A pit stop at the toilets to lighten the load and off we were. We didn't even make it a quarter mile when we sent Jake back to the trail center for a permit. While Target and I waited, we met another 3 guys who were also doing the loop in the same direction, minus the bonus peak bagging. So normal dudes. Jake arrived sans permit, citing some rumors about a self register further on trail.
Obligatory trailhead pic
So off we were, again.
So green compared to SoCal
The altitude was no joke. Our day was all uphill and every several step I was out of breath. It was also hot, humid hot. Living in SoCal for the past two years has made me weather soft. I was sweating, couldn’t breathe, and there was so many people. It was a rough start, physically and mentally. I kept telling myself the daily mileage was low and I was used to doing more elevation gains while pretending I didn’t know that meant steeper ups.
Always up
We hit the junction of the loop and decidedly took the left fork leading us in a clockwise direction. Brief research had led us to understand this meant steeper ups and less severe downs. This is decidedly better than a longer up and sliding on your ass on your way down. I forced a pack off break at Crater Lake. It was beautiful, but what scenery out here isn’t? There was a ton of bugs and day hikers.
Crater Lake
Crater Lake, the other side
We didn’t break too long as the guys were itching to keep moving, our goal being getting up and over the first of the four mountain passes on this trail. It was already pushing 10am and afternoon thunderstorms are a very real, very dangerous threat. I thought we had just a few miles left to go, but the guys destroyed that with the reality of 5-6 miles yet. FML. My struggle wasn’t even at its realest yet.
Crater Lake way in the background
Always up, that was the theme of the day. We had our first two wet water crossings of the trip. Jake’s and my boots were not made for fording water crossings and while Target’s fancy Lone Peaks are, he desired relatively dry socks so we were left changing footwear on both sides of the crossings. Next year gear goal: water crossable footwear.
Where’s the pass?
Struggling up the mountainside
Up, up and up we went. Finally we rounded a bend and there she was. The first pass, West Maroon Pass. Man, she was a tall lady.
Starting the steep part of the ascent
While the trail wasn’t technical and most of the slope wasn’t unreasonable, it was still an unrelenting up and the challenging altitude made breathing difficult. I had to stop every 50-60 steps to catch my breath, drink a sip of water and mentally checklist myself for AMS symptoms. The last section of trail to the top of the pass became very steep and the drop off very severe. But I made it!
West Maroon Pass, the ascent behind us
West Maroon Pass, the descent to go
A very bold-ass chipmunk decided to investigate Yoda and received a boop to his noggin in return.
Thankfully the weather remained calm and we were able to soak in the views for a bit and rest up before descending. Some celebration nut butter (honey peanut) was had. The descent was pretty steep but switchbacks helped to prevent slipping and falling to a near certain death. We crossed two ladies who were day hiking from Crested Butte to Aspen. Dang.
Down we go, you can see our pine shelf in the distance left
At the trail junction we ran into the 3 normal guys who were debating doing the next pass that night. Apparently they had an aggressive schedule and only planned two nights on trail. Ballsy. We left them pondering their decision to make our way to a shelf of pines to make camp. This hiker had no more gas for another pass.
Arriving at the pine shelf, we discovered a well used campsite complete with a fire ring (very naughty, fires aren’t permitted at this altitude). We set up camp, dug a few holes, and relaxed with some birthday mountain margs. Jake and I switched camp chores and I joined Target to filter water while he made dinner. I realized the error of my choice very quickly. Filtering water sucks. I looked enviously at Target’s nice dirty water bag while desperately squeezing the pathetic sawyer bag I had.
Pine Shelf Camp
The mosquitoes were thick so I hid in our tent for dinner, Garlic Shrimp Risotto, one of my faves. The guys cleaned up camp and stored the bear kegs so I could be lateral to enjoy the remnants of my birthday. I was already snoozing when they returned. As we said our g’nights we heard thunder in the distance which may make the night interesting.
See all Maroon Bells posts
Our heroes find themselves in the final stretch of the campaign and contemplating on the journey.