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canyonwalkerColorado Travelog #23
Ridgway, CO - Tuesday, 5 Jul 2022, 11pm
So. Earlier today I told Hawk about my bucket list item from 30+ years ago to visit Maroon Lake in Colorado, suggesting we plan another trip like this one to see it... and she said, basically, "Why not now?" Since that moment we've been reworking our plans for this trip to get there.
I started changing hotel reservations plans from my mobile phone while parked on the side of a street. I made more reservations and changes from my computer at a restaurant. And I've spend another few hours online after getting back to our vacation condo this evening completing the plans. Here's how we'll spend the rest of the week:
Also a tradeoff is that we will not visit Great Sand Dunes National Park or Garden of the Gods on this trip. But since we've visited both before— and have been to GotG, like, three times— that's okay. Swapping in a trip to Maroon Lake is worth it.
Ridgway, CO - Tuesday, 5 Jul 2022, 11pm
So. Earlier today I told Hawk about my bucket list item from 30+ years ago to visit Maroon Lake in Colorado, suggesting we plan another trip like this one to see it... and she said, basically, "Why not now?" Since that moment we've been reworking our plans for this trip to get there.
I started changing hotel reservations plans from my mobile phone while parked on the side of a street. I made more reservations and changes from my computer at a restaurant. And I've spend another few hours online after getting back to our vacation condo this evening completing the plans. Here's how we'll spend the rest of the week:
- Tomorrow (Wednesday) we'll hike in Telluride then drive north to Montrose to stay for the night. This is more-or-less our original plan for tomorrow, though while things were up in the air I canceled our hotel stay for tomorrow night and later rebooked it. It's a points stay, and the price went up from 23k points to 24k.
- Thursday we'll visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. That's also within the parameters of our original plan (we allowed some flexibility on whether to hike there or Great Sand Dunes) though instead of driving to Alamosa, near Great Sand Dunes, we'll drive back to Glenwood Springs for the night.
- Friday we'll hike Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon. Yes, I got a hiking reservation for it! Friday night we'll stay through in Glenwood Springs. Hawk got us 2 nights at the Marriott Residence Inn with a cert and points.
- Saturday we'll visit Maroon Lake above the ski resort town of Aspen. Maroon Lake also has a permit-based system, and Saturday morning is what I could get a slot for. It's about an hour drive from Glenwood Springs to Aspen. We're not staying in Aspen because hotels are, like, $500/night on up there.
- We'll do more than just visit Maroon Lake; we'll hike from Maroon Lake up to Crater Lake, a round trip of about 4 miles at high elevation. Saturday evening we'll drive back to Denver and crash at a hotel near the airport. Hawk booked that on points, too.
- We'll fly home Sunday morning. That's different from our previous plan of flying home Saturday evening. Yay, no change fees. But boo, paying higher prices for last-minute fares. It cost about $180 more to book Sunday at the last moment, but it's worth it to make this all possible.
Also a tradeoff is that we will not visit Great Sand Dunes National Park or Garden of the Gods on this trip. But since we've visited both before— and have been to GotG, like, three times— that's okay. Swapping in a trip to Maroon Lake is worth it.
