Backpacking Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness - Day 1

Finally made it to a hiking/backpacking destination that has been on my bucket list for a couple years now - the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness area roughly 3.5 hours to the west of Denver, Colorado deep in the rocky mountains.

Coming from the east coast on a long weekend trip, we knew the elevation would be a factor to consider, but ultimately we ended up deciding on the Maroon Snowmass Trail to Willow Lake Trail to East Maroon Trail Loop. The loop is about 24 miles long and offers a variety of ecological variety including aspen forest, wildflowers, alpine lakes and large mountain vistas. The trail starts at an elevation of 8,395 feet and climbs up and down to a high elevation of 12,696 feet over several mountain passes. We were definitely feeling the elevation but it was so so worth it!

On day one of our three day two night backpacking trip we made it about 6 or so miles before we ran out of sunlight. Day one mostly consisted of aspen forest opening into mountain valleys with tarns and creeks. Wildflowers were everywhere! We had a beautiful sunset with the light shining off the red rock of the mountains surrounding us. We ran into a small group of deer and heard from some other hikers that there was a bull moose nearby right when we were searching for a camping spot for the night. Somehow we walked right past the moose while it was in the brush and didn't see it until we were setting up camp a couple hundred yards away. Lucky us! Overall a great first day to the trip with a beautiful camp site right next to a small creek.

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Part one of a three part series - part two out next week!

Thanks for watching :)

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#colorado #backpacking #hiking #maroonbells #wildlife #wildflowers #wilderness #travel #nature #outdoors #outdooradventures