At dinner the other night Brian had suggested we bike out Maroon Creek road - it's where the main hiking area for the Maroon Bells is and the road is closed to private vehicles during the day, shuttle buses only, so there wouldn't be much traffic and it's a very scenic ride. So this morning we had Mom drop us off at Aspen Elementary school which was right at the start of the road and we rode off!
It was 10 miles and 1600 feet of elevation gain to get to the visitor center at the end of the road! But, I didn't have to get off and walk! It was a lot of of uphill riding and when we finally got there I was ready to be done!
Maroon Lake is amazing! It's a big lake with the huge mountains all around! We sat on the bank and ate lunch, then we headed up to Crater Lake! The hike to Crater Lake was almost 4 miles round trip with another 500 feet of elevation gain! And there were tons of people! But it was a nice hike - with views, and Aspen forest, and wild flowers!
After we got back to Maroon Lake it was time for the fun part, the downhill bike ride! We zoomed back to Aspen in half the time it took us to ride up! Once back in town we followed a few different bike paths to get to Paradise Bakery for ice cream! It was a good calorie replacement!
After our ice cream we still needed to ride another 5 miles back to the campground. My legs were done riding uphill and I was pretty much done with riding. I don't think I brought enough food, I was hungry from the middle of the hike out to Crater Lake all the way to the end, I think if I'd had more food I wouldn't have been as worn out by the end. The last 5 miles were hard. The bike path we were on was nice, mostly flat or downhill, but all the up hills I got off and walked!
I was back in the campground when I saw Mom coming down the road - we were late getting back and she was going to look for us. Since she'd found me (and Dad was ahead so she'd already seen him) she turned around and on her way back in she picked me up!
I got a shower and we ate dinner and then we drove Maroon Creek road again (private vehicles are allowed after 5) so Mom could see it!
Posted with Blogsy
Cycling for ice cream. Where have I seen that before.
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