We packed our sandwiches, plenty of water and headed out the door by 8:00 today. We wanted to hike before the daily afternoon thunderstorm and Jon picked a respectable 6.5 mile hike to American Lake. The trailhead was about 30 minutes outside of Aspen. The drive was beautiful. It followed a mountain stream with multi multi million dollar homes perched on the mountain side.
Another advantage of an early morning start – we didn’t have to hike a mile just to get to the trailhead. We could park and start right at the trailhead. After ~1/2 mile of hiking we could’ve turned around. The first part was that beautiful. We would’ve been satisfied! We crossed a small stream and were in the middle of a forest of Aspens. Like nothing we’ve ever seen. If that wasn’t enough, a little more hiking and the forest floor was a field of blooming wildflowers. While we were standing there a hummingbird came right for my face. I mean I could hear his wings! I had a on colorful neckgaiter that I used as a mask on the trail. I think the hummingbird thought it was flowers. I might’ve let out a little scream – he scared me!
The entire hike to the lake was uphill. All 3 hours of it! We gained close to 3000 ft elevation. Plus we started at 9,000 ft. Our lungs weren’t quite used to the thin air. We took our time, rested and let all the younger hikers pass us. Everyone on the trail had masks or neckgaiters and put them on when they got close to other hikers.
I’m so glad we didn’t turn around after the Aspens. The lake was gorgeous.
On the drive back to Aspen, Jon thought a boggy, muddy section of the mountain stream would be a perfect for a moose. Guess what? There really was one! We also saw some big horn sheep and deer but sadly no pictures of those.
We are about to eat some dinner. We found a restaurant in town called Meat & Cheese so we ordered a meat and cheese board to go. It will go perfectly with the wine we brought from home.
*Note to self… 6+ miles of a mountain hike might be just beyond our limit. We are really really tired.
Halfway Round the Planet, Part 2 