Anyone Try Out Some of the Side Trails on the Maroon Bells/4 pass Loop?

[SteelToe]

I really enjoyed the four-pass loop last time I was out there, and I am attempting to expand upon that adventure. Rather than tackle the main loop in 3 days again, I am considering breaking it up into 3 single-direction hikes done in succession, by leaving the loop and hiking out to a nearby town every other day. These 'side trails' are themselves loops, so the route looks like a 3-petal daisy chain (with hotels at the tips of the petals)

Maroon Lake (Aspen) -> Marble (via Lead King loop)
Marble -> Snowmass Village (via the northern trail just past Snowmass lake)
Snowmass Village -> Maroon Lake (Aspen)

There seem to be a lot of advantages;
-Only one night of camping out between each stop
-Food & supplies could possibly be staged at each stop
-Two places to 'bail out' in an emergency
-Two places to skip a full day's hiking if I am running behind
-I can actually skip the last pass (Buckskin) if I must, though it is the most impressive of the lot

The disadvantage is that each day's hike is on the long side, at 12-13 miles. Well, that, and finding the motivation to go back out into the wilderness the morning after sleeping off a delicious meal in a warm cabin, lol. But I've had no problem doing such hikes when I don't have a heavy multi-day pack on me, so the premise seems...at least plausible.

Has anyone done some or all of these segment hikes? Are they worth it, or would they be simply serve to make the main loop trail more tedious?

[TaoJones]

This is an intriguing idea, SteelToe, and I'm sure the "petals" you're thinking of adding to the Loop will reveal some beautiful new vistas. As you indicated, by planning your hike around every other night's lodging, it allows you to lighten your load and you should be able to cover more ground in a given period of time.

And as you suggested, you could supply/resupply in Aspen, Marble and Snowmass Village, allowing you to only carry minimal food on each leg of the hike. That does save some weight, and those towns do represent semi-convenient bailout locations in the event of emergency, but that's somewhat true even if you do this "Ring the Bells" loop in the conventional manner.

I'm a little bit unclear on your hike from Marble to Snowmass Village "via the northern trail just past Snowmass lake" . . . is that the Snowmass - Willow Lake Loop you're referring to? That would seem logical to me.

Your addition of the petals creates a really interesting hike, IMO, and I hope you do it and put together a comprehensive TR for everyone to read. I'm sure you know yourself best, but I can easily see how a person might struggle to get back on trail after enjoying the comforts of good food that someone else prepares and a nice, warm bed every other night.

Would you reserve your rooms ahead of time, since that would force you to hike to a schedule? That can be a burden. And finding overnight parking at the Maroon Lake TH isn't a certainty, either, and could throw you off-schedule at the last minute. That could add stress you wouldn't want just as you're about to get going on your hike.

The Four Pass Loop is on my agenda for this coming summer, as well, though I haven't really started planning anything yet. Given my location, I'll probably drive to Marble and use the north side of the Lead King Loop to Geneva Lake trail or Fravert Basin trail to join the Four Pass Loop (depending on whether I take it clockwise or counter-clockwise).

Who knows, maybe I'll be seeing you on the trail.

TJ

[SteelToe]

The trail up to Snowmass Village would be to go over Buckskin Pass, and cut north by Willow Lake, the back down the through the next valley to the west, over Buckskin Pass again, then down to the trail head. I have my reasons for wanting to cross that stretch of trail in that direction, even if it means doing so twice;

I know many folks do the loop counter-clockwise, but Buckskin Pass is by far the most dramatic, and especially so when approached from the west; in my personal case, I was being checked out by a curious large hawk (or small eagle) the last few dozen feet of the climb which was cool enough, and then I crested the pass and see Pyramid Peak looming before me, the end of my journey below, and at the pace I'd hiked, looking back over my shoulder I could see the Trail Rider Pass I'd come over in the early morning, at a seemingly impossible distance away because of the scale of everything.

Getting parking in Marble is a pretty savvy idea, but I know that those other towns have even less capacity than Aspen, and you can't be the only person with that idea

The hairbrained idea for this trip came from the hikingproject.com website page on the Four Pass Loop. I remembered there were some side trails like Willow Lake that I hadn't had time for before, but that website has really good maps & trail info that showed how the neighboring trails & cities all fit around the central loop. Then I remembered how my giant pack ended up at like 45-50lbs because I'm so paranoid about water (it's a Texas thing), but for single-night hikes my smaller 32L pack is nearly sufficient and much faster to hike with. Why not break up the single long hike into three sections, and see more stuff & have an easier time in the process?

I'd reserve my rooms ahead of time, maybe reserve an extra day at the last two locations "just in case" LOL. Rates in Marble & Snowmass weren't as bad as I'd thought they could be, it'd add about 250$ to the tab with meals. Small price to pay for the benefits, especially considering the Four Pass Loop is about as cheap an Aspen vacation as you can do. Parking is at the ski lodge back in Aspen, then taking the shuttle up to the Maroon Lake trailhead; I'll be heading out each morning at 5:30am and the last day of hiking is shorter than the others, so missing the last return shuttle (again) shouldn't happen. It's only an extra eight miles back to town, right?

The tentative itenerary is;
Day one) 8:30am shuttle gets me on the trail by 9:00am, and I hike alllll the way over the first two passes & down into the nearest trees of Fravert Basin (possibly around nightfall, but maybe earlier depending on my pace). I remember being really slow & gobsmacked & wasting a lot of time on the first day before, yet I still got to the trees below the first pass by like 3:00pm. But the next trees don't appear until about four miles later at Fravert, so it's a real commitment.
Day two) 5:30am hike toward Geneva Lake, but cut over onto the north fork of the Lead King Loop; arrive in Marble before their BBQ joint closes at 8 or 9pm
Day three) 5:30am hike along southern fork of Lead King back to Geneva Lake (I forget if the lake is actually on the trail or a short detour; it's not really worth seeing unless it's on the way or you are camping there) over Trail Rider Pass and down to camp at Snowmass Lake.
Day four) 5:30am hike up & over Buckskin, and muster the will to turn left at the Willow Lake signage & follow the valley north up to Snowmass Village before all the good restaurants close
Day five) 5:30am (maybe an hour later) hike down the next-valley-over from the Willow Lake trail back to the Snowmass Lake area, then cut west over Buckskin again & down to Maroon Lake trailhead before the last shuttle leaves at 5:30pm. Gorge myself, then fall into some sort of coma by 8:00pm, but not in the bathtub like last time (I 'nearly' died of hypothermia in my hotel room, in late summer, lol)

The plan is to also pad an extra day after these five for recovery & if needed, flexibility, before driving back home.

I hope to see you out there, too; I'll be the bald guy who looks lost

[TaoJones]

That is really well thought out, SteelToe! I'm sure you won't regret adding the extra hiking to your adventure, but that extra day in Aspen at the end should be a nice way to recuperate. I love Aspen - just can't afford to spend a lot of time there.

I like my chances of finding parking in Marble since I'm retired and can plan to start my hike mid-week, but you never know. Your plan of shuttling up to Maroon Lake is a great way to do it, and I'm sure if you miss the shuttle back into town on that last day that there will be a kind soul leaving the Maroon Lake parking area who wouldn't mind giving you a lift.

I'm a bit paranoid about carrying adequate water myself . . . maybe it's a Texas and Colorado and the West thing during this severe drought. We've had a normal snowfall year so far, so I'd anticipate a heavy spring run-off followed by normal conditions throughout the summer. Still, never take hydration for granted, right?

Do you know when you'd like to do your Four Pass Loop hike, SteelToe? I'm looking at September as I think about it now, since the summer crowds will thin out some after Labor Day. I'm also planning on doing the Collegiate Loop this summer and looking at starting that one right after Fourth of July. It's about a two / two-and-a-half week hike as I have it laid out in my head. It could be done quicker, I suppose, but I'm in no hurry. And as with your idea of going off-the-loop for your own good reasons, I'm thinking of adding a 14er or two into the itinerary as I make my way around the ~160-mile Collegiate Loop.

I'll be starting from the summit of Monarch Pass and hiking counter-clockwise. When I reach Twin Lakes I'll make the attempt on Mt. Elbert. If that's the only 14er I even attempt, I'll be satisfied, but there are so many available just off the Collegiate Loop that I feel like I should consider others as well.

If, for some reason, the Collegiate Loop hike just doesn't come together for me this year, then I'd probably move my plans for the Four Pass Loop up into that mid-summer timeframe. Both mid-summer and late summer / early fall are excellent times to undertake such a hike.

I hope you make it to Marble in time for the BBQ, but if you're expecting good Texas BBQ, well, you might be disappointed. Even though I was born, grew up and was educated in Colorado, I spent 30 years working in Los Angeles. When I returned to Colorado after retirement to live out my life I was more-than-a-little-bit disappointed with the quality of some professional services here and almost all the restaurants. Heh . . . I think LA spoiled me.

Have you given any thought to taking a full day in Aspen after you arrive to acclimate a bit to the higher elevation? That might make that first long day on the trail not quite as exhausting. I can see how using an extra day at the end for recovery makes sense, though, especially if you're facing a long drive back to Texas right after that. And I can relate to your near-hypotermic experience, as well . . . on a really hot day in LA I went to sleep with a fan blowing on me as I lay sprawled atop the sheets, only to wake up about 2am shivering violently. That was a real learning experience.

Heh . . . "bald guy who looks lost" . . . that sounds like me except I'm a mostly bald guy with a beard who probably is lost.

TJ

[SteelToe]

Okey-dokey, hike is slated for 8/24-9/2. Apparently everything is already mostly booked even 6 months out in the off-season, lol, but I did manage to get a place to crash in Aspen, Marble, and Snowmass Village. Once I get closer to zero-hour I will mail a care package to the Marble and Snowmass locations, so I'll be able to resupply and become presentable while in the towns. Couple days to decompress in Aspen before the long drive back.

Now I've just got to get my gear & myself prepared!

[TaoJones]

Okey-dokey, hike is slated for 8/24-9/2. Apparently everything is already mostly booked even 6 months out in the off-season, lol, but I did manage to get a place to crash in Aspen, Marble, and Snowmass Village. Once I get closer to zero-hour I will mail a care package to the Marble and Snowmass locations, so I'll be able to resupply and become presentable while in the towns. Couple days to decompress in Aspen before the long drive back.

Now I've just got to get my gear & myself prepared!

I know it's surprising about the difficulty of finding a room in what certainly isn't ski season, but there doesn't seem to really be an "off-season," as such. I think a lot of people who aren't into winter sports still want to come to the mountains in the summer just to escape the worst of the summer heat at lower elevations for awhile.

Your resupply plan is a good one - you shouldn't have to carry a very heavy pack at all. While you've increased your hiking distance, you've managed to break it up nicely into a series of day hikes with the occasional overnight on the trail.

I've located an outfit http://www.smithfamilycolorado.com/CRJT/jeeptour.htm in Marble that, besides offering tourists jeep tours, will also shuttle people to/from certain trailheads from Marble while also providing a parking place for my truck. They charge $60/person for the service and I think that could be a good way for me to start and end my hike.

If you have any interest in hiking together for part of the loop, we could probably meet up in Marble and head out together from there. If you'd rather hike the Lead King Loop rather than use the shuttle from Marble back to the TH, I'd be OK with that, too. From looking at your potential itinerary in an earlier post, it looks like we'd spend that night camped near Snowmass Lake, then hike over Buckskin Pass the next morning.

Below Buckskin you'd take your left onto the Willow Lake trail up to Snowmass and I'd continue my hike on around the Four Pass Loop and eventually make my way back around to the cutoff back to Marble. It would be nice to hike together for a bit over a day, but if you'd rather enjoy a solo effort I'm certainly not offended by your choice. It's your vacation, your hiking plan, and I'm just a local with a vaguely similar plan for the same area.

TaoJones