How To Hike the Rocky Mountains

How-To Hike the Rocky Mountains!



This summer at the end of May, I had the opportunity to travel to the Rocky Mountains.

What was funny to me about this, is that I did not know initially that I was going to the Rocky Mountains.

I had my heart set on travelling to Maroon Bells, which is a place I have touched on briefly in a previous post. Little did I know that Maroon Bells was a part of the Rocky Mountains, in Aspen, Colorado.

Today, I want to give my readers some tips on conquering the Rocky Mountains, given that you are planning on travelling to them at some point in your life. (And by the way, I highly recommend doing so at some point).

Let me just say, that if I traveled to the Rocky Mountains unknowingly and did okay, then you definitely can to if you know beforehand and prepare well!

So first thing you'll want to do is prepare. In my situation, I am very far from Colorado. Just getting into Colorado is a 12 to 13 hour drive. To get to the Rocky Mountains, its about another 3 to 4 hour drive. It’s very far from home so packing the essentials was super important. If you're planning on camping in the Rocky Mountains like I did, you'll want to be prepared for that as well. I put together a little list of things that you'll need right off the bat if you're planning on travelling to the Rockies and camping there.


PACKING LIST

  • ·         Tent
  • ·         Sleeping bag
  • ·         Pillows (for the car ride and to sleep at night)
  • ·         Tarp
  • ·         Portable charger
  • ·         Tablecloth
  • ·         Tooth brush
  • ·         Tooth paste
  • ·         Sunscreen
  • ·         Bug spray
  • ·         Portable speaker
  • ·         Portable grill
  • ·         Charcoal
  • ·         Lighter fluid
  • ·         Comfortable clothes
  • ·         Comfortable shoes
  • ·         Hiking shoes
  • ·         Hat  & sunglasses
  • ·         Toilet paper
  • ·         Baby wipes
  • ·         Clothes for warm and cold weather
  • ·         Food and snacks
  • ·         Cooking utensils
  • ·         Cleaning supplies

This is just an initial list off the top of my head of things that are necessary to have on your trip to the Rocky Mountains if you are planning on camping.

Packing clothes for warm weather and cold weather is necessary because in the summer months, it is hot during the day and the temperature drops at night. While I was there, it was around 80 degrees during the day, and at night it would drop to around 30 degrees. So having both types of clothes came in handy so we didn’t freeze at night.


WHERE TO HIKE AT THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

The Rocky Mountains stretch from between Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, to New Mexico for 3000 miles. There are plenty of different places you could choose to hike if you ever wanted to hike the Rockies. My personal experience hiking the Rocky Mountains was in Aspen, Colorado, which is what I will be touching on today.

As I previously mentioned, I visited the Maroon Bells in Aspen, Colorado. It is without a doubt, the most beautiful place I have ever been to. I have traveled to many other states in the US but this is as far west as I have gone. Nothing has compared to the beauty I saw when I was at the Bells. So if you're planning on hiking the Rocky Mountains for the first time, I highly recommend taking a trip to Maroon Bells to see the beauty it has to offer. I had never been past Denver before, and I got to this destination by doing a little research and keeping my GPS handy. The great thing about Maroon Bells is that is a big tourist attraction, so there are numerous campsites available that are five minutes away from the Bells. This makes it easy to camp in the Rocky Mountains and have easy access to the trails that the Bells has to offer.

Maroon Bells Snowmass has several different trails. A few trails include:


  • Crater Lake Trail
  • Maroon Lake Scenic Trail
  • Maroon Creek Trail
  • Conundrum Hot Springs Trail

CRATER LAKE TRAIL
This is the end of the trail where we arrive at Crater Lake. 

Crater Lake Trail was the first trail that I conquered in the Bells. The trail is around four miles long and is an out and back trail. On this hike we gained 3000 feet elevation, and hiked through 4 feet of snow. The snow on the trail is very compact, so it was relatively easy to walk on. It’s a strange thing when its hot outside and you're trekking through snow on a trail. I would say the last half mile of the trail was in the snow, so it was a significant distance hiking through. The trail is rated as moderate, but if you’ve never hiked in Colorado previously, I would say its more of a difficult trail because of the elevation gain and the snow you have to hike through at the end. The hike brought us to Crater Lake, which was beautiful and surrounded by mountains with snow capped peaks. I have included a picture above from my trip.


This is the last half mile of  Crater Lake Trail, where we hiked in the snow. 




MAROON LAKE SCENIC TRAIL

The end of the Scenic Trail.

This was an easy hike, which was about a mile round trip. The trail is intended to capture the views of the mountains without having to do a strenuous hike. You get a close up of the beautiful, crystal clear lake at Maroon Bells, as well as the mountains. I personally like more of a challenge for a hike, but this is great if you're looking for something easier.

Along the Scenic Trail.





MAROON CREEK TRAIL  

Halfway through the trail where the trail was marked. 


Maroon Creek Trail was a pretty difficult hike in my opinion. It started out relatively easy. We were on a flatter path, surrounded by green trees and ponds, but we continually gained more elevation. As I have mentioned before, Maroon Bells lies in the White River National Forest. So while we are hiking, we are consistently hiking through the forests that lie on the mountains. When we reached the part of the trail that went through the forest, it got difficult. Part of the mountain was still covered in snow, so the trail was covered in snow. This would not have been difficult if the snow was not slanted with the mountain. So not only did we have to hike through snow, we had to hike through snow that was on a slant. Below us, was a rushing creek (given the name Maroon Creek Trail). I slipped a couple times hiking across this, which was scary because if you were to slip hard enough, you could possibly fall off the side of the mountain. The last half mile of the trail was covered in snow making it very difficult, but it was a rewarding hike all in all.


CONUNDRUM HOT SPRINGS TRAIL     
     
I personally did not do this trail, but it is a very well known trail to hike. This is a very strenuous hike, 17 miles round trip, which offers natural hot springs at the end. Although I did not do this hike, I plan to go back to Maroon Bells in the future to tackle this hike.



So, how does one hike the Rocky Mountains? You just have to go for it! I hope this page provided tips and ideas to form your own trip to the Rocky Mountains, and will help you be well prepared. For any questions feel free to leave me a comment!

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