2010 July 20 West Maroon Bell Pass Crested Butte CO

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Old cabin just before all of the flowers start.

July 20, 2010 Day 4 West Maroon Bells Pass


Today we will be hiking to the West Maroon Bells Pass. If you would hike the complete trail, it will take you to Maroon Lake and you can then take a shuttle bus into Aspen. This is a very popular hike as many people hike it to Aspen and then either spend the night in Aspen or arrange for transportation back to Crested Butte. Since we are rookies in hiking the CB area, we did not plan our logistics ahead of time and will be doing a hike out to West Maroon Pass and then coming back the same way.



We drove on the 4x4 road all the way up to the rock shelf we located yesterday on our walk down from Schofield Pass. Although the trail head is two miles further up the road, it is nothing we think we should drive over. When we arrive at the rock shelf there is a man and his 20 something son digging all of their suitcases out of their trunk. Seems they were going to drive up the road to the pass, but heard one of their tires blow out when they drove over a rock. Now one of the two is digging stuff out of the trunk while the other is reading the car manual so they can find the jack. I think the walk will be worth it. I don’t want to start reading the car manual so soon into this trip!

As we are hiking up the road we are playing some major ‘dodge car’ game. There are plenty of people driving up and over that spot where it narrows and becomes a major sticking point. I think if they saw the truck yesterday get stuck there they also would be walking. After dodging roughly 20 or so cars, a guy and lady in a pickup truck stop and offer us a ride. We jump in the back of the pickup for a bumpy ride nearly a mile up the road. Arriving at the trailhead we see all of the cars which we recently dodged are parked at the trailhead. People are getting their packs ready for the trip up and over the pass. The guy and lady who gave us a ride are “credit card” hiking. They are leaving their car on the CB side hiking the 8 miles over to the Aspen side, then taking a bus into town, and grabbing a room with their credit card. They will get up in the morning and reverse the trip.

Hit the trail along with the masses of people. In the first quarter mile you arrive at a beaten down cabin site. After the cabin the flower show starts. Paint brush, blue bells, purple bells, columbine, lupine, alyssum, and delphinium. There was also something that I call the million flower plant. It was taller than Kathi and was loaded with tiny white flowers. So here we are on this trail that is as wide as two feet standing side by side. Flowers are everywhere, for as far as your eyes can see. A long string of people with their cameras stuck to the front of their faces and they are all unwilling to step off of the trail to let others pass by. I really don’t think stepping on a few flowers to get off of the trail is going to set the earth out of kilter. It took us a long time to get past the people so we could make some time. Oh yes, we had plenty of time to shoot pictures as many of the people just did not get the concept of allowing people to pass them. So we spent plenty of time waiting for the perfect moment to pass.

While walking my head was just swiveling. It really is hard to find the right words for how picturesque this whole valley was. Certainly when you see pictures of loads of flowers with a mountain scene in the back ground you think, no way is that for real, but I am here to tell you that is how this whole hike was. The flowers changed with the gain in elevation, so there was always the element of I wonder what will be next. On the way up to the pass I did not even notice that there was a running stream with falls along the way. That is how into the whole flower thing I was.

Standing at the top of West Maroon Bells Pass

Last push to the top if the pass

For much of this trail you are gaining elevation, but you scarcely notice it until the last mile or so. At that point it is up, up and a few more switchbacks of up and then magically you are standing on top of the West Maroon Bells Pass. To one side is Aspen and to the other is CB. Standing on top of the pass there was no wind and a beautiful sunny day. We shared the pass with a group who were doing a trip over to Aspen. They had hired a guide and the guide was earning his money! There were two people in the group who were scared of heights. The guide escorted each person up to the top and when he had them up there then he escorted the people down the other side until they reached a portion of the trail that was flatter. One guy was laying at the top grasping for rocks to hold with a grip of death. He looked like he was near falling off of the earth. I asked him if I could help him to a more comfortable spot, but his reply was no, he was just fine where the guide had left him. I’m looking around and can clearly see many places where sitting or even laying would be way more comfortable. I really think if he would have sat up he might have found good firm footing and been able to regroup himself for the step over to the Aspen side. The guide did eventually lead those who were scared down with them hanging onto his shoulders and looking straight down at the guide’s feet. The next three people up to the pass were on a three day back packing trip. So we did some chatting and trail swapping info. They suggested we try the Oh-Be Joyful trail. We told them of the great backpacking available in the Canadian Rockies. I know now for a fact they got the better end of this information swap. We hiked all of the way back down to the trail head enjoying the flowers. On the 2 mile walk back on the road we did not get offered a ride by any of the car people, but someone did stop and ask if we had enough water…

7hours 2318 calories burned 12 miles 39.7 total miles