Maroon Bells at Crater Lake
Jul. 21st, 2022 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerColorado Travelog #42
Aspen, CO - Saturday, 9 Jul 2022, 1:30pm
On the way up to Crater Lake at the foot of the Maroon Bells I wrote a bunch about flowers (see previous blog). One thing I didn't write about is the altitude. We are high up! Maroon Lake, where we started hiking, is at just over 9,500' elevation. In getting here to Crater Lake we are now above 10,000'.
Probably being out here at 5,000' ~ 9,000' elevation for the past week has helped with acclimation. Still, it was a bit of huffing and puffing to get up here. That's part of why we stopped and looked at flowers so much. 😅 But now we're right at the foot of the 14,000'+ Maroon Peak.
You might notice on the right flank of Maroon Peak there's a waterfall. While many who'd made the climb up to Crater Lake today were content to splash around in the lake a bit and head back downhill, we continued onward to see if we could find a better view of the falls.
Aaaand... what's better than a view of the falls, but a view of two falls? 🤣
Yes, there's a second waterfall to the left of the first one we saw. The one of the left has a much larger single drop, a tall, fine spray of water that drifts back and forth in the breeze. It's in a crevice, though, so it's only visible to folks who hike up this way.
Alas, now it's time for our hike back downhill, too. We're getting into the afternoon, it's still 1.5 miles downhill, then we have to wait for a bus to Aspen, then we have a few hundred miles of driving still to do! 😨
But for now.... In beauty I walk.
Aspen, CO - Saturday, 9 Jul 2022, 1:30pm
On the way up to Crater Lake at the foot of the Maroon Bells I wrote a bunch about flowers (see previous blog). One thing I didn't write about is the altitude. We are high up! Maroon Lake, where we started hiking, is at just over 9,500' elevation. In getting here to Crater Lake we are now above 10,000'.
Probably being out here at 5,000' ~ 9,000' elevation for the past week has helped with acclimation. Still, it was a bit of huffing and puffing to get up here. That's part of why we stopped and looked at flowers so much. 😅 But now we're right at the foot of the 14,000'+ Maroon Peak.
You might notice on the right flank of Maroon Peak there's a waterfall. While many who'd made the climb up to Crater Lake today were content to splash around in the lake a bit and head back downhill, we continued onward to see if we could find a better view of the falls.
Aaaand... what's better than a view of the falls, but a view of two falls? 🤣
Yes, there's a second waterfall to the left of the first one we saw. The one of the left has a much larger single drop, a tall, fine spray of water that drifts back and forth in the breeze. It's in a crevice, though, so it's only visible to folks who hike up this way.
Alas, now it's time for our hike back downhill, too. We're getting into the afternoon, it's still 1.5 miles downhill, then we have to wait for a bus to Aspen, then we have a few hundred miles of driving still to do! 😨
But for now.... In beauty I walk.
