Aspen, CO (Day 1)

Friday, September 18

We’re sad to say good-bye to Buena Vista today, but onward we must go.

Andi and I spent about an hour yesterday penciling in a travel plan for the next 30 days, but this morning we were still undecided on our next travel destination. There’s so many places we’d like to see in Colorado! We thought we might go to Crested Butte next, but this morning we decided to go to Aspen instead. To get there, we’d need to drive across Independence Pass — the 2nd highest mountain pass to cross the Continental Divide with an elevation of 12,095 feet. Fortunately, the pass is still open this late in September. Department of Roads closes it seasonally because there’s too much snow and not a way to clear it. At the top of Independence Pass, there’s a scenic overlook, but we didn’t stop for it. We did see a family of mountain goats on the side of the road on our drive which was pretty neat!

It took us about 1 1/2 hours to drive from Buena Vista to Aspen, and the pass wasn’t nearly as stressful as I thought it was going to be. Maybe that’s because it was a beautiful sunny day. Or, maybe because I wasn’t driving! Vehicles over 35 ft. aren’t allowed on the pass and it’s easy to see why. There were some tight turns and parts of the road that merged into one lane the closer we got to Aspen.

On the eastern side of Aspen, we stopped at The Grotto’s trail. A short hike led us to a viewpoint of rocky cliffs and a pool of bright blue water. Once again, the kids really like climbing all over the big boulders, but the steep drops on either side made Andi and I little nervous to let them adventure too far.

We were surprised to discover that there aren’t many camping options in & around Aspen, so we were lucky to snag a spot at Weller Campground about 15 minutes outside of town. Weller Campground is first come, first served and has about 11 campsites. There were a handful of spots left when we arrived around 2:00pm Friday, and once we paid for our spot and set up camp, we walked across the highway to the Weller Lake trailhead.

Weller Lake trail is a 1 mile out and back hike which is perfect for our family. The four of us hiked to the lake easily, and Tory and Aden had fun climbing over tree trunks, rocks and bridges to get there. We saw a few other people on the trail, but for the most part we had the woods to ourselves. It was a pretty old-growth forest with lots of pines and aspens.

I am probably too lenient with the kids sometimes and stopped to let them climb over some rocks and trees in a dried-up river bed toward the end of our hike. Tory and Aden were having so much fun playing outside and imagining together until Aden slipped and fell about 5 feet down the dry creek bed onto a pile of rocks. He cried, but fortunately wasn’t hurt. “It’s good to let kids be kids,” I told Andi. “Yeah, but not when we’ve got to hike them out of here if they really get hurt” he said. Luckily, Aden was fine a few minutes later. Dad and Sister to the rescue.

The four of us walked back to camp and made dinner. Then, we snuggled up and watched When Calls The Heart on Netflix, as has been our family’s nightly ritual this trip.

Saturday, September 19

This morning, we were on the road by 9:00am for Aspen. When we left, there were already cars circling the campground to secure a camping spot for Saturday night which speaks to the point about there not being many amping options in & near Aspen! Fortunately, Andi was able to reserve us a campsite for tonight at Difficult Campground, just 4 miles down the road. We prefer traveling with flexibility and don’t usually like making reservations, but sometimes — especially on a weekend in a busy area — it’s smart to have one. Now we can also enjoy our day in Aspen without the stress of worrying where we’ll camp tonight.

Since it’s Saturday and we didn’t have school this morning, we decided to have breakfast in Aspen. We saw a farmer’s market as we drove through town, so Andi found a parking spot for the RV on a side street and we walked there to check it out.

I love the buzz of a farmer’s market in the morning! This one span over two city blocks and was lined with farmers selling Colorado peaches (last of the season, the sign said), plums, apples, arugula, zucchini, carrots, and other veggies. There were a few pastry and bread vendors, and a man selling fire-roasted chilies from a big steel roaster. Tory and Aden wanted a donut which we couldn’t find amongst the chaos, so we decided to walk downtown to find a bakery instead. Aspen’s sidewalks and pedestrian mall were bustling with people and dogs on a Saturday morning. It was almost overwhelming! The line at the local bakery wrapped all the way around the block, so Andi and I decided it best to go back to the farmer’s market and find some breakfast there. In the end, Aden got his donut and Tory picked a blueberry muffin. Andi and I ordered empanadas and while flavorful, they were cold.

There was some excellent people watching in downtown Aspen on a Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day and the sidewalks were busy with people meeting friends, playing with their kids, shopping and eating. The kids found a green space / town square area with a playground so we stopped to let them play for a bit before walking back to the RV around 11:30am.

This afternoon, Andi and I decided to bike the Rio Grande trail— a 42-mile trail connecting from Aspen all the way to Glenwood Springs. We weren’t planning to bike the whole thing, of course. Andi found a parking lot near Snowmass to leave the RV parked and we hopped on the trail from there.

It was a beautiful afternoon for biking. Temperatures were in the low 70’s and the sun shined brightly. That seems to be the average temperature here in September, aside from that wacky snow storm we experienced at the beginning of the month.

We rode through the pretty countryside around Snowmass until we reached the small town of Basalt. By this point, it was almost 2:00pm and we were all hungry after our sub-par farmer’s market breakfast so we decided to have lunch at a Mexican restaurant in town. We’ve eaten out in restaurants more than ever the past few weeks, but we’ve felt completely safe in doing so. Andi and I always choose to sit outdoors and it’s encouraged to wear masks until you’re actually eating your food. The wait staff and other customers are all wearing masks too, so we feel it’s been pretty safe to do so.

After lunch, the four of us continued biking along the Rio Grande trail. We stopped at Whole Foods to buy a few groceries and at a craft fair we saw along the way. In all, we biked over 17 miles! Our legs were tired and our butts hurt by the time we made it back to the RV.

Our reserved campsite at Difficult Campground was perfect for the evening. We had plenty of space for our RV and an open space beside it with a trail that led down to the river. After we were settled into camp, the four of us followed the trail down to the river and also went for a hot-lap around the campground. As a family, we’re working toward our 12 miles/week hiking goal and every bit counts!

There’s a bike trail connecting from Difficult Campground to Aspen, so tomorrow we’re planning to ride our bike into town and take the gondola up Aspen Mountain. Should be fun!