6-20-12 Wednesday

It seemed like a good start to a fabulous vacation. We were actually on the road at 8:40 when 8:30 was our target time.

We took I-70 west to CO 91 and then hit a snarl. Road work had everyone down to one lane, with the opposing traffic stopped. No matter, it was a beautiful day and we weren't going to be terribly late hitting our 11:00 meet up with Mom and Dad at Twin Lakes. They were coming up from south 24. However, misreading the directions, when I saw 24 west, I took it, and only 10 minutes later realized we were supposed to have taken 24 east. Now we're going to be late. But about this time, cruising through Leadville, we get cell phone reception and find a text from Mom, telling us they are running late and will be closer to 11:45. This means I can actually stop for pictures!

Leadville, CO, North America's highest city at 10,152 feet.

Approaching Twin Lakes

  

We got out and wandered with the dogs for about 15 minutes until Mom and Dad arrived. 

The year has been so dry and hot, the wildflowers, typically not seen until July, are already in full bloom. 

Katy and Evan load back up to hit Independence Pass and Aspen.

We got to Aspen around 1:00 and the only fast food place to come up in a search was a single McDonalds, in the center of town. Seriously, in a town where there is virtually no parking all day, you are going to put the only place someone coming through can grab a bite without sitting down in the center of town with pedestrian-only access? Being two cars, one pulling a trailer, this made lunch quite tricky. Aspen is all about the high-end and camping ala our vagabond caravan does not quite fit with the image. You want boutiques of Ralph Lauren, Louis Vitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Fendi, etc, etc. Aspen is your place. You want the most expensive real estate in the United States, come on down. Per the wiki: "As of March 2011, the lowest-priced single-family home on the market was a trailer for $559,000.The median listing price for homes or condos for sale in Aspen is $4,229,558 according to Trulia. It is not uncommon to see listing prices reaching the mid-eight figures."

After parking and walking over to get food to eat in the car, we pulled out of town and just five miles outside on the other side to an entirely different world. The road to Maroon Bells is closed to vehicle traffic (except by free shuttle bus) unless you are an overnight camper. We checked in at the ranger station, picked up our car passes, and headed up the road to Silver Queen. There are only three camping areas near Maroon Lake and the Bells: Silver Bar, Silver Bell, and Silver Queen. Queen is the farthest up the road and nearest the lake. Each campground has only a handful of sites. I had reserved our five days (the limit) in January. 

 The trailer has to be unpacked of two tents, six cots, six sleeping bags, six camp chairs, six people's luggage for five days of clothes (all of which get hopelessly filthy), as well as three iceboxes, four food boxes, three tables, two propane tanks, three camp stoves, an oven, a box of tools, and various other sundries. It's so much easier to do this when you believe you are staying put for five days.

The tent pad wasn't rectangular enough to accommodate our tent, so we pitched under the aspen grove nearby and Mom and Dad set up theirs on the pad. The dogs were quite happy to have been included and wasted no time in getting as dirty as possible between the muddy, cool waters of the river and the dusty red dirt in the camp. While the guys set up the tents, Sam, Katy, Evan, and I investigated the area.

After the hard work was done, we discovered that Nick was experiencing quite the shell-shock at the full realization that he was now utterly disconnected from his world, since his world runs entirely on electricity. It took him the longest to acclimate to enjoying what unplugging really means. That first afternoon before dinner we drove back into Aspen and over to the Rec center, which offered campers a pass for the last 90 minutes of each evening to use all the facilities, including the gym, pool, and showers. We went back to camp, enjoyed a meal of frito pies, and then Nick headed on his own into town to the grocery store and over to workout at the Rec. 

While he was away, the rest of us just took in the cool air and sun setting on the peaks around us. The dogs curled up happily on their beds we had brought to lay between the cots in our tent. The 25' leads worked perfectly and we didn't need the stakes, thanks to the perfectly situated aspen grove. 

Bob chopped up the small bit of wood left over from the previous campers, who had clearly enjoyed the firepit. However, by the next morning, Colorado had declared Stage 2 fire alerts, which also bans all fires in designated pits in campgrounds. The wood sat, unused, beside the pit. Dad had planned to brings several boxes of wood but it ended up getting left behind when the trailer wouldn't accommodate it. Just as well. I will admit, camping without a fire is a bummer. Camping without s'mores is just wrong. 

Nick got back around 9:00 and we were getting quite cold by then. Everyone crawled in and read by lamplight while the sounds of the rushing river lulled us to sleep. It would get down to 35° that night. It was absolutely marvelous.