The Unemployment Chronicles

For those of you who haven't heard, I quit my job last month. Since then, I've been busy having fun. In an effort to keep friends and family updated on what I've been doing, I present "The Unemployment Chronicles."

In mid-September, I loaded my pack and my dog into my truck and drove to Aspen to backpack the Four Pass Loop, a highly touted 26 mile loop that crosses four mountain passes over 12,000 feet and circumnavigates the Maroon Bells. The Bells are a pair of fourteeners (peaks over 14,000 feet in elevation) in the Elk Mountains, a rugged mountain range in central Colorado.

I left my house in Denver at 6:00 AM and made the scenic 160 mile drive to Aspen in good time. I was on the trail and standing on the shore of Maroon Lake before noon. Directly in front of me was the postcard panorama of the Maroon Bells, probably the most photographed peaks in all of Colorado.

The Maroon Bells from Maroon Lake

Many tourists make the 100 yard walk from the parking lot and go no further, but I had 13 miles and two mountain passes to tackle that afternoon so my time at Maroon Lake was shortlived. I decided to hike the loop in a clockwise direction, climbing West Maroon and Frigid Air Passes on day one to avoid having to switchback my way up the much steeper Buckskin Pass from the east.

An hour or two after leaving the trailhead Ranger and I were above treeline and approaching West Maroon Pass. I passed a group of women from Crested Butte on their way back to the trailhead and overtook a man backpacking with a pair of llamas. He said it was nice not to have to carry any gear, but the llamas were more stuborn than he thought and were slowing him down.

The stretch of trail between West Maroon Pass and Frigid Air Pass was wonderful, never dropping below 11,500 feet and offering tremendous alpine views to the west and north.

As I crested Frigid Air Pass, the southwest flank of Maroon Peak came into view again. By mid-September in the mountains in Colorado the days are noticeably shorter and the sun was low in the western sky. I could see that the trail ahead (and 1,000 feet below me) was being overtaken by shadow. After a few dozen downhill switchbacks I was in Fravert Basin. I continued down the trail for perhaps two more miles and then found a place to sleep for the night. I dropped my pack, pulled out my beer, and bushwacked through some willows to the creek, where I moved some river rocks to create a spot to chill my beer without risk of it floating downstream. Priorities taken care of, I set up my shelter and got dinner cooking before returning for my now cool can of Avery IPA. I ate my dinner and watched the alpenglow dance on the ridge in front of me. By 8:00, it was dark and cold and it was time for bed.

I awoke at sunrise but couldn't talk myself into giving up the warmth of my sleeping bag (it is COLD at 11,000 feet in September!) so I napped for another hour and let the sun rise a little higher in the sky. I followed the trail down Fravert Basin and passed a cascading waterfall before coming to the trail junction for Trail Rider Pass.

Approaching Trailrider Pass

At the top of the pass I could see Fravert and Hasley Basins to the south and Snowmass Lake to the north.

Snowmass Lake from Trailrider Pass

Snowmass Peak from the shore of Snowmass Lake

I stopped to eat a snack on the shore of Snowmass Lake before crossing the marshy Snowmass Creek drainage and climbing once again toward the fourth and final pass of the loop, Buckskin Pass. I passed a large group of Aspen Middle School students on their way to Snowmass Lake, then another group, then another and another, and thought to myself how lucky I was to be able to do this trip mid-week and after Labor Day to avoid the crowds that usually go along with this popular trip. After passing what seemed like the entire Aspen Middle School, I switchbacked my way up to the top of Buckskin Pass and looked back to the direction I came.

Ranger at the top of Buckskin Pass, with Snowmass Peak, Hagerman Peak and Snowmass Lake in the distance

I knew I was the last person to crest Buckskin Pass that day, and it was all downhill from there. I cruised the remaining miles down Minnehaha Gulch and an hour or two later found myself back on the shore of Maroon Lake just in time to catch the sun set behind the Maroon Bells!

No trip is complete without a post-hike beer, so I stopped at the Aspen Brewing Company on my way out of town to rehydrate. A pint or two of Independence Pass Ale later and I was back on the road headed for home.