Autumn Aspen Adventure

Friday night, we skipped town and headed up the pass to Copper Mountain to say farewell to the summer and greet the inevitable winter. Experiencing the transition between the two in the Colorado Rockies can be spectacular. We've done some good hikes this summer, so Garret decided that this would be a "no hiking" weekend. Well, when one heads to the mountains to view Autumn splendor, "no hiking" can be quite a challenge. Nonetheless, we made it happen. We awoke Saturday to a crisp 40 degree morning and headed up to Leadville to visit the National Fish Hatchery. The boys loved it - although Garret wanted to grab his pole and catch them. As you might imagine, we had to explain several times that catching fish for sport is somewhat counterproductive to the mission of the Hatchery. I'm pretty sure Garret didn't care.



We then headed toward the divide via Independence Pass. The road takes you through Twin Lakes, two fantastic bodies of water that rest in the shadow of Mt. Elbert, Colorado's highest peak. We enjoyed tossing rocks and sticks into the lake and letting Jameson romp.



Our adventure continued as we made our way upstream to the pass, stopping several times along the way to take in the scenery, snap some pictures, and get dirty.



At the top, we looked back at the Atlantic watershed and forward to the Pacific. The view of Mt. Elbert was magnificent. Owen stopped to strike a pose before sauntering down "Umpa Tom" style (hands folded behind his back) to grab some lunch with the fam.



Eventually, we braked and swerved down into the town of Aspen, checking out rock climbers and getting passed by road bikers along the way. We enjoyed the rest of the day in Aspen, exploring the town, playgrounds, and dinner. After dinner, we made our way up to see the Maroon Bells - two fantastic peaks that rise above a small mountain lake just southwest of Aspen.



Jameson liked it so much he proclaimed the Bells "his" with a little squirt.



Even though the entire weekend was filled with childish objection, we all agreed that we'd do it again. Somewhere in the back of thier little minds Garret and Owen know that they went on a pretty cool trip (even though they say they would rather watch a movie). So bring on the snow, we've said our goodbye to Summer 2008.