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Maroon Bells

I didn't feel like hiking thousands of feet uphill on Friday, so I decided to drive to see the famous Maroon Bells near Aspen.  The drive takes you over 12000 foot Independence Pass, this is a road that demands your undivided attention!  I would not want to drive on this road if it was icy, as it surely was about a day before.  There aren't many gas stations this way, and my low fuel light came on just after getting over the pass.  I drove most of the way down trying not to touch the gas pedal at all, but I hardly needed to.  I wouldn't want to run out of gas on this road either.  I resolved to fill my tank all the way up at the first gas station I found, no matter how expensive.  Finally, I coasted all the way down to Aspen, and found a gas station.  I took one look at the price on the pump, and just put in ten gallons!  Soon after, I reached the turn-off to the Maroon Bells.  After parking, I walked in a mile or two to Crater Lake for a better view of the Bells.


View from Independence Pass

The Maroon Bells are some of Colorado's hardest 14er climbs.  Maroon Peak, 14156 feet, is on the left, with North Maroon Peak, 14014 feet, on the right.


The Bells get their name from the reddish colored rock in the area.

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