Hiking Crested Butte to Aspen

I traveled to Crested Butte in the middle of my summer journey and went hiking with friends Monica, Amy and Martyn--we hiked from Crested Butte to Aspen in about 8 hours--we hiked up to the top of West Maroon Bells which has an altitude of 12,490 feet. I am in healthy shape, but having only been in Crested Butte for 4 days, I had not acclimated to this altitude, thus was a bit out of breath at the top of this mountain! We dined in Aspen at Mezzaluna--I had yummy pasta and ate it all as I was starving after that hike. Then we drove back to Crested Butte through Kebler Pass.

If you are in or near Aspen, don't forget to stop by Elliott Yeary, one of our fabulous retailers!

The 28-mile unpaved road drive through Kebler Pass was a bit eerie but beautiful even in the dark--did you know that one of the earth's largest living organisms is the grove of Aspen trees at Kebler Pass? The Aspen tree forms large stands of genetically identical trees connected by a single underground root system. WOW!

I had no idea I would be riding ATVs (4-wheelers) for 6 hours with 2 guy friends of mine through the mountains of Crested Butte in the Cement Creek trail area--what exhilarating fun! During part of our journey, we raced around --above the tree line-- which here in the Rockies is about 11,500 feet. Here we are high-fiving after our first little run when the guys realized that I was actually a risk-taker ;)