We tend to like hikes with a destination and lately that destination has been mountain lakes – whether it’s in Italy, Switzerland, or Germany. Colorado mountain lakes are just as pretty but much harder to hike to. In Switzerland we used gondolas and ski lifts to get to the top and then hike down. In Germany we took a boat. It Italy we took trains to avoid the climb up. In Colorado you use your legs to go up and up and up.
Because of this whole COVID thing we had to reserve a parking pass before we could go to Maroon Bells. Today was the day of our pass and it was the only day with rain in the forecast for the morning. It was about a 30 minute drive through the mountains to the parking lot. At 4:30 am, we were not the only ones there!
Luckily it was a short walk, in the dark, to Maroon Lake. We brought a bunch of warm clothes, hat, mittens and our rain jackets. We needed it all! The weather did not cooperate, it rained as the sun was coming up. I tried to tell Jon all the pictures he takes of mountain lakes have been beautiful, maybe it was time to try for a stormy, moody one. The weather didn’t really cooperate with that either. We would have loved some lightening bolts… was that really asking too much?
Our parking pass was good until 4:30 pm so we decided to stay and hope the weather improved. There was a hike to another mountain lake we wanted to do. So while we waited we decided to enjoy a little breakfast.
Maroon Bells are those 3 mountains you should be able to see. They are one of the most photographed places in Colorado. Despite the less than perfect weather it was a beautiful area. There were breaks in the clouds so we decided to go for it. The hike to Crater Lake. Now this isn’t the Crater Lake we had planned on hiking this summer. That one was is in Oregon. We had reservations to hike Wizard Island in the middle of Crater Lake but the National Park Service and COVID canceled that. Turns out the Crater Lake in Colorado isn’t half bad 🙂 It was an easier hike – 4 miles and only 694 ft. elevation gain (although it did feel like that gain was all in about 1/4 mile.) We got a little wet on the way back but made it to the truck just before the hail started.
I forgot to mention that just before the hail, the sun came out. Jon was able to take some pretty spectacular pictures of the Maroon Bells.
Pre-dawn long exposure 
And then the clouds came in 
This was the path all the way up 
We see the lake! 
Crater Lake 
Wildflowers everywhere! 
Sassy Patti made an appearance 
We heart the Rockies! 
I REALLY want to come back to Aspen in the fall. This would all be yellow. 
Whipped cream, anyone? 
The weather cooperated just as we were getting back from the hike. No maroon color that comes with sunrise, but not bad!
Halfway Round the Planet, Part 2 