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Last
year I turned 50, and that meant it was
time to celebrate with an adventure splurge. Everyone
gets to set her own threshold for what constitutes an
“adventure,” as opposed to an “outing”
or a “wild-eyed, crazy-ass bad idea.” For
me, an adventure implies a physical challenge, some serious
planning, and yet not a huge amount of risk taking. And
splurge? It means staying in places that have bathrooms
and showers—not a tent in the wilderness. With that
in mind, I contacted our buddies Bonnie Carol and Max
Krimmel, and made an adventure splurge plan: we would
hike from Aspen to Crested Butte and back again, two days
later.
Now for the caveats: Crested Butte and Aspen are 24 miles
apart as the crow flies, and we aren't crows. So we didn't
truly start in Aspen. Instead, we started in the Maroon
Bells parking lot on the Aspen side of the Elks mountain
range. And we didn't hike right into Crested Butte; we
hiked to the Gothic trailhead on the Crested Butte side.
Step one in planning the trip was to
arrange a ride from that trailhead down to the town of
Crested Butte. Why? Because Dolly Schaub, our driver,
not only gives rides, but also gives advice when asked
(find her at Dolly's Mountain Shuttle, 970-349-2620).
She has personally covered every inch of the local terrain,
and knows what's going on around town, what restaurants
are good, and how to cure a high altitude headache or
baby a blister.
Step two was to reserve a campsite in
the Silver Bar campground, right below the starting point
of the hike (for reservations, call 877-444-6777). This
U.S. Forest Service campground and the two others along
the valley road are the most popular in the nation, so
reservations are a must. If the campgrounds are full,
plan on staying in Aspen or nearby, and drive up the road
into the Maroon Bells area very early. If you get in before
7am, no questions are asked. Between 7 and 9 am, you'll
pay $10 per car. From 9 am to 5 pm the road is closed
to private cars, but exceptions are made for overnight
hikers—people like us.
Step three was to get in shape; we required
ourselves to take a handful of hikes in our local area
to build stamina, a pleasure each time.
Step four was to choose a late July date,
drive to Aspen and get the party started at the campground.
The next day, long before dawn, we rolled out of our sleeping
bags, ate the last of the quinoa salad and avocado slices
from our campground supper the night before, and gathered
our gear. We brought the usual stuff for a day hike: sandwiches,
chocolate, rain gear, gum drops, water, lemon drops, extra
gloves, M and Ms, and maps. We carried a few extras as
well: clean clothes, some easy-on-the-feet footgear to
swap for the hiking boots, and in my case, lipstick and
a spiffy birthday set of necklace and earrings. Once we
got to Crested Butte we would be ready for a fine dinner
out.
The hike begins in the dense forest on the East Maroon
Pass trail. Maybe it was beautiful, but I remember with
certainty that it was chilly. Almost immediately, we started
debating what minute the sun would finally hit us. Brian,
my husband, won by guessing the exact minute. Dumb luck,
we all thought. He and Bonnie then made a wager; when
would we arrive at our pick-up point? Dolly was scheduled
to meet us at 4:30. Brian asserted that we'd be there
by 2:30, and Bonnie said she thought we might need to
put some steam on to avoid a late fee. Whoever lost would
carry the oversized first aid kit on the way back.
We gradually climbed past timberline, oohing and ahhing
at the flowers. There can't possibly be a more brilliant
spot than the Elk Mountains in late July; somehow the
lack of oxygen either creates vivid colors in the flowers
or in the eye of the beholder; it didn't matter. We were
all happy to reach the 11,800 ft. pass. To celebrate,
some of us shut our eyes for a half hour; others climbed
a hillock.
The trail down the other side seemed even more impressive,
perhaps because we had to pull off a couple of times to
allow picturesque horse trains to go by. When we arrived
at the Gothic trailhead 10 hours after our start, the
bet was called off: we were there in time, but just barely.
Others can make the 14.5 mile trip in 6 hours, I'm told.
Being in splurge mode, we had allotted two nights in Crested
Butte, giving us a full day to rest up and explore. Other,
hardier folk do the return hike the very next day.
We spent the night in Crested Butte's only budget lodging,
the Crested Butte Hostel. Let's just say there are fine
bed and breakfasts in town, ski condos, and also the historic
Forest Queen Hotel to choose amongst. We were content,
though; a shower is a shower. Crested Butte had everything
we wanted: good restaurants, several massage options (I
chose a one-person shop, Amethyst Massage; contact them
at blondiesue22@msn.com)
and a very manageable historic downtown. The town had
a surprise for us, too: we found ourselves in the midst
of the Crested Butte ReelFest, a film festival. (Every
weekend Crested Butte has at least one festival; check
gcbcalendar.com
for specific dates this year.)
If you've never been to a film festival (I hadn't), it's
really, really fun. We, with our weary legs, benefited
from an excuse to sit in the dark, not moving a muscle.
But the real magic was the stuff on the screen. It wasn't
as polished as multiplex fare, but it was funnier in one
case, scarier in another, and, when it came to the adventure/mountaineering/rockclimbing
films, it was WAY impressive. We also saw “Trespassing,”
the locally made ski porn/environmental movie about the
threatened Red Lady Basin just above town on Mt. Emmon.
With all that adventure on the big screen, our jaunt was
nothing by comparison.
In fact, the whole town gave me the feeling that our jaunt
was close to nothing. Crested Butte is not only the designated
“wildflower capitol” of Colorado, but the
unofficial uber-athletic capitol, too. On the Aspen side
of the mountains, we, with our big hiking plan, looked
like overachievers; on the Crested Butte side, we were
pansies. (Likewise, on the Aspen side we were the low-budget
riffraff; on the Crested Butte side, we were welcome customers.)
On our second morning Dolly picked us up bright and early.
We opted to return via the West Maroon Pass trail. The
hike seemed more arduous than the hike over, even though
it's billed as just 10.5 miles. I guess steepness makes
a difference, since we the new route included an additional
500 feet of elevation gain. However, it was even more
wondrous than its eastern neighbor. The pass itself is
just a rocky slot between the two valleys; we shared it
with a festive crew of chatty strangers.
When we finally dragged our bodies past Crater Lake and
to the parking lot on the Maroon Bell side, we knew exactly
what to do: go into Aspen, celebrate our exploits with
a margarita, and get out a map to seek a new town-to-town
hike for this season.
Wendy Underhill, a writer, parent and
community do-gooder, has set a goal for 2008: "Have
more fun." Traveling the byways of Colorado is one
of the big ways she's fulfilling that goal.
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JULY/AUGUST 2008 FEATURE ARTICLES
