Aspen Adventure

About a week ago my boyfriend called me and told me he fell off a roof at work and was on his way to the hospital with an ankle the size of a watermelon. Luckily he didn't injure any tendons or ligaments (which is worse than a break), but he did have a really bad sprain. After the initial worry we were both pretty bummed because we had planned on doing a lot of hiking this fall.

Two days ago we decided that we would rather go to the Maroon Bells and not really hike than not go at all, so we loaded up, crutches and all, and made an adventure out of it. We went to the Maroon Bells that morning, shopped around Aspen, and adventured (as much as we could) around the Highlands and Snowmass Village. The weather was absolutely superb, we couldn't have asked for better. We definitely should have worn shorts, though!!!

We got lucky that we went on a day when the buses weren't running so we could drive right up to the Maroon Bells parking lot. The staff was also extremely helpful and courteous. We didn't have a handicap pass but they let us move up from the overflow lot to the front lot and park nice and close. Unlike Hanging Lake, you don't actually have to hike to the lake at the Maroon Bells, it's only a short walk from the parking lot. (There are some pretty awesome and lengthy trails past the lake, but obviously those weren't going to be happening.) This was a good thing because he was on crutches, but a bad thing because it was kind of crowded. We made it down to the end up the lake which was good enough for me. Here are some pictures in no particular order of the Maroon Bells and the road up to them! I'm bummed we didn't get to actually hike, but it's something to look forward to next summer/fall!

It's no wonder than the movie Dumb & Dumber was all filmed in Summit County. Aspen doesn't really look anything like most people think it looks like. It's not "village-like" at all, but more so a small city. If you're from Wisconsin, it reminds me of a mix of the 3rd Ward in downtown Milwaukee and the town of Lake Geneva mixed together. I could never live there, too much traffic. It was fun to shop around there nonetheless.

Last but not least, Snowmass Village. Out of the three Aspen Mountains I haven't ridden in the winter (Aspen, the Highlands, and Snowmass), I think I would like Snowmass the best. It was beautiful with all the changing colors.

Climbin!

A year ago this time I posted an entry about hiking Baldy Mountain with three of my friends. Unfortunately we got to just over 13,000ft and decided we were exhausted. This year however, I not only made it to the peak, but I also had plenty of energy to spare! I've been working really hard this year to eat right and stay in shape, and it really paid off. Unfortunately I didn't bring my GoPro like an idiot, but here's our adventure in iPhone photos and some of my friend Kate Payne's photos. Remember that when I state a phrase like "a couple hundred feet from the peak," that's vertical feet... not how many feet we actually climbed, which can sometimes be 6x the vertical feet. Another misconception about climbing a mountain is that you climb up on the way up, and down on the way down... but that is so not true. On top of the switch backs below treeline, there are a ton of ( what I like to call mini mountains) on top of the actual mountain, so you're constantly climbing up and then back down while gaining altitude. This makes climbing Baldy really fun, but I guess also exhausting for some.
*Don't forget that you can click on the photos for bigger versions.

Tripod photo by Kate. So high, yet the hike only really begins here.

Me claiming 13,000ft. This is where we stopped last year, but it's only the beginning of my entry this year.

Kate checking out the view.

Up and down and up and down.

Can you find the path?

How about this time? Constantly looking for those blessed rock stack markers.

That's a long way down...

Finally over that hill, not surprisingly the peak doesn't look any closer.

One last photo from her camera before the gnarly final accent to the peak.

These rocks are really grippy, but also loose and fragile.

Since they were grippy, I chose the "move quick so they don't break" method.

You can't look at your feet when the path gets narrow, the dropping on both sides of your view creates a tunnel-vision like effect that makes everything get distorted.

The last photo we took together before I departed on for the peak.

She had fun while I was gone...

She had fun while I was gone...

She had fun while I was gone...

After two more humps I reached the final climb!

I was so excited that my "hike" turned into a slow jog at this point.

Almost a 360° panorama from the top. The 10 pics are below.

1.

2.

3.

4. My personal favorite.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Oktoberfest, Snow & Fall

This past weekend Breckenridge held its annual Oktoberfest on Main St. which I was very excited about. Because I'm finally 21, it was my first Oktoberfest I didn't have to walk around just watching everyone drink. I proudly bought a 1 pint mug and filled that sucker up with the most delicious German Lager Weizen (wheat) beer. Unfortunately the only day I could attend Oktoberfest because of my work schedule was Saturday, which happened to be the one day it was stormy. I thoroughly enjoyed myself nonetheless, and look forward to hopefully enjoying it the entire weekend next year, with nice weather as well.

Sunday Morning, picture courteous of Breckenridge Ski Resort's facebook page.

Photo courteous of Breckenridge Ski Resort's facebook page.

The trees have only just begun to change but there's been quite a bit of snow on the peaks around Summit County the past two weeks. It reminds me of two winters ago when the snow came early and got everyone excited but ended up giving us a pathetic winter. It makes me wonder what this winter will really be like. I've read a lot of different things online. Some say La Nina comes in two's and will be back for another round, while others say La Nina has only struck in two's a few times in history and to expect a more average winter. As much as I'm still cringing at the thought of snow, thinking of a steep and deep powder run always makes me excited. I would honestly rather have another La Nina season... but only time will tell!

Photo courteous of Breckenridge Ski Resort's facebook page.

Enough about snow, fall has just arrived! I recently found a really cool article about some of the best places in Colorado to catch the colors, and Boreas Pass Rd. between Breckenridge and Como made the list. (Read the full article here.) If you've skimmed around my blog you've probably seen the three pictures my old roommate took from Boreas Pass. There are a few other places I plan on visiting in a couple weeks for hiking and pictures, I'm really excited for this fall!

A New Year, A New Look!

I actually have a pretty extensive html/css and graphic design background for never taking any classes. I decided that since you're all going to be stuck reading my blog for a few more years now (due to my acceptance into the four year program), I better give you something nice to look at. It took me about 4-5 hours total to put this new look together, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out! I will definitely be adding and changing little things here and there, so bear with me.

I'm really enjoying my classes so far this semester. I'm taking Music Appreciation, Algebra (my worst enemy, which is actually treating me well so far), Conversational Spanish, and my first four year program class, Contemporary Marketing.

It's been VERY chilly in Summit this week, and incredibly, several of the peaks in and around Summit County have been covered in snow for the last week or so. There have been rumors of another La Nina season on the way... so I'm trying to prepare myself for another 50 feet. I can't say I'm too upset, I can never have enough powder days. I really wasn't excited for winter to come because I feel like I got shafted on a warm, sunny summer (check out the entry from late June when I woke up to 8" of snow.) But I have to say that thinking of shredding the steep & deep (the deeper the powder, the steeper you want your run to be... you have to ride it to know what we mean) is making me excited. I have a lot of friends who are living in Vail this winter and riding Vail and Beaver Creek, so I think I'm going to finally go with the Epic Pass so I can ride more than 10 days out there. It sounds like this season is going to be just as epic as the pass!