Maroon Bells – Aspen, CO

Maroon bells may be as picturesque as you can get in CO. It’s a huge tourist attraction drawing hundreds if not thousands of people a day. So beautiful and popular that the National Park Service doesn’t allow cars to drive up to the top between the hours of 8 AM – 5 PM. It is only accessible by a (dog friendly) bus ride to the top during the day. Of course I picked one of the busiest weekends at Maroon Bells to try and run here. Since there is color on the trees folks come from all over to get a picture. This made me have to wake up at 6 AM to get a spot at the top, even at 6AM the lot was filling up quick.Pup and I chilled in the van til the sun started to light up the darkness. I then walked around to stretch pup as I focused on the run. After meeting a few runners the night before I planned on running up West Maroon Trail for about ten miles.Maroon Peak is a 14er and surround by several other 14ers as you are in the meadow near Cater Lake. With the high altitude, breathing is still tough for me while running upward. But I managed to get 11 miles on this beautiful trail.I also had my second moose encounter with a very curious young bull that was b-lining it to the lake.If you are in the Apsen, CO area a stop at Maroon Bells is definitely worth your time.