Aspen and Mt. Elbert!

Last weekend, we went with our good friends, the Beck's and the Hinton's, to Aspen for a music festival. It's the first time we've been to Aspen, and we had a great time, not to mention the weather was perfect. Since our anniversary is Sept 9th, we decided to make this our anniversary trip and we left the kids at home with Nana. We got to play the fun aunt and uncle with all the other kids...then give them back:) The house we stayed at was amazing...four floors (included the garage) with an elevator to each floor (of course we had to try that out at least once). The view was incredible. Aspen reminds me a lot of home, just WAY more expensive. We grilled out Friday night and just hung around and enjoyed the home and each others company. Saturday we went hiking to the Maroon Bells (another gorgeous place), ate lunch at Snowmass then went to the music festival. Sunday was spent walking around downtown Aspen, eating lunch in the ped-mall then off to the music festival. Pat and I went out to dinner to a great Italian restaurant on Sunday night. Then it was off to bed early for us as we were hiking the highest point in Colorado, Mt. Elbert (more on that later) on Monday morning.

It rained the first night we were there and it produced a wonderful rainbow. This is also the view off the deck.
The crew at the Maroon Bells.

Beautiful scenery!

The view looking back from Maroon Bells.

The stream we crossed.

We also took a walk on the Rio Grande Trail that goes through Aspen. It was a perfect morning.

Rio Grande River.

Since we moved here, Pat and I have wanted to hike Mt. Elbert (the highest peak in Colorado and the second highest peak in the lower 48 states...14,433 ft.), so we decided last weekend was the perfect time to accomplish that goal. We were up at 4 am for the drive from Aspen to the trail head (which took about 2 hours). Our starting temp was 29 degrees, but it felt wonderful. The first mile or so was easy (with lots of switch backs), then it became steep as you hiked toward the treeline. It got a little easier right before you hit the boulder field, then became really steep again. The steepness, combined with the boulders you had to maneuver through and the altitude, made the climb fairly slow for the last mile or so. We were expecting a 4 hour hike up (as that's what we had read), but we made it in just over 3 hours. Total hiking time, not including lunch and small breaks, was 5 1/2 hours...not too shabby! The view from the top was amazing, so many mountain peaks. Our next goal..Mt. Massive (which is the second highest peak in Colorado and Mt. Elbert's neighbor) and Long's Peak next summer. Even though we are sore, it was well worth it.

At the trail head!

Turning up the Mt. Elbert trail.

The trail in the trees.

Mt. Elbert (or should I say the false summit).

Almost above treeline with the "false" summit in the background.

Above treeline, before hitting the boulder field.

Mt. Massive in the background.

Ahh, the boulder field. There is a trail, it's just really hard to see.

After the boulder field, on the way to the summit.

Twin Lakes in the background.

Love the mountains!

We made it to the top! This is geological survey marker at the top.

What a gorgeous view.

We made it to the top. If you can see the "sign", whoever wrote it was 3 ft short. The summit sits at 14,433 ft.

On the way back down. Pictures don't really show the steepness, but our hips and knees were sore as we descended.