Day 1 route
Day 1 elevation profile
Day 1 route |
Day 1 elevation profile |
7/21/2016
I tried to hike the Four Pass Loop in 2013, and made it as far as just above treeline below West Maroon Pass. Thunderclouds began to build, and within minutes a storm was in full force. I was completely exposed and lightening was striking every few minutes. I was more than a little anxious and actually ran down the trail to get back to treeline. I could not believe how fast the storm and lightening blew in. If I had been up on one of the passes it would have been bad. Once the storm passed, it was too late to try to continue, so I made camp and then headed back to Maroon Lake the following morning. I only had four days to do the hike and could not see doing it in three... so I resolved to come back another day and finish this amazing hike!
Fast forward to 2016. My son had moved to Colorado and wanted to start hiking with me again. I chose this hike knowing the scenery would really showcase Colorado for him and hopefully get him to hike with me more! I have been doing 10-15 mile days on most of my recent hikes and figured scaling this back to less than 8 per day would make it more enjoyable for him. What I didn't factor in was how steep the ascents were. Some of the blogs I have read about this hike rate it as 'difficult' or 'strenous'. I would agree for the 'average' hiker this will be a more challenging hike. Having said that, it is also a FANTASTIC hike, so don't shy away, just be mentally prepared!
We drove to Aspen from Denver, and got to the overnight parking area around 7am. I have been here during the day to photograph fall colors and it was a complete madhouse. If you arrive after 8am you may really have a tough time finding parking...
The first day is actually pretty tame if you make camp before West Maroon Pass. Since there isn't much in the way of camping spots between West Maroon Pass and Frigid Air Pass, if you decide to keep hiking past West Maroon Pass it will most likely be a 12+ mile day to get to a decent campsite.
Revan and I chose to camp a mile before West Maroon Pass, and we found an amazing spot just off the trail a bit. Hiking past Maroon Lake, Crater Lake, and seeing the Maroon Bells was just beautiful. It did rain off and on, but no thunderstorms this time, and not enough rain to spoil the trip.
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