TR–Maroon Bells Wilderness

Okay, folks, first effort at posting a trip report–I'll start out small. Sorry, it's a little heavy on human interest shots.

This was our 3 day trip into the Maroon Bells Wilderness, entering from the south side (near Crested Butte). We started up the Copper Creek Trail in a light rain, which, fortunately, dried up after an hour or so, leaving brilliant sunshine. Arriving at Copper Lake we set up camp and were able to stay dry in the Double Rainbow when a series of rain/thunder/squalls moved through intermittently throught the evening.

The next morning dawned crystal clear with frost on the grass. We hiked up from Copper Lake past Copper Pass on on up to Triangle Pass, at nearly 13,000 feet. The views toward the Maroon Bells were spectacular as were views in the other direction to Castle Peak and down toward Conundrum Hot Springs. Castle Peak was dusted with fresh snow from the night before.

We descended from Triangle Pass on the Aspen side, then traversed west to East Maroon Pass, then back down to our camp at Copper Lake. For once, the Colorado weather stayed fine and sunny. We enjoyed our FBC mexican rice with beef, and retired early.

Sunday morning we visited with neighboring BPers before packing up and hiking back to the trailhead. As we hopped in the truck, the first raindrops fell–good timing!