Anniversarying in Carbondale

After last Fall’s (i.e. 2017’s – we are way behind with this post) failed anniversary trip to Yosemite (unhealthy smoke conditions made us decide to bail), we decided to try again this year in Colorado’s Carbondale area. For those not familiar, Carbondale is a an old mining town in the Roaring Fork valley in between Glenwood Springs on the north and Aspen on the South. It’s grown up to be a relaxed and fun alternative to more touristy / expensive places nearby like Aspen.

Our trip started before we arrived, when we decided to take a quick stop in Glenwood Canyon to visit Hanging Lake. You essentially park right off the freeway and then hike a mile or two up the canyon wall almost all the way, until you find a super picturesque lake tucked into the wall on top of a big gorge. Apparently “the log” which you can see in the photo of the lake has been there forever. Definitely worth a stop as you’re driving on I-70, though apparently starting in 2019 there’ll be a lottery-based permitting system due to increasing foot traffic.

The photos don’t really do it justice, so imagine this times like five. (In fact, that’s kind of true for most of the photos in this post. So you get to use your imagination a little bit!)

On Day 2 we biked the Rio Grande Trail from Carbondale to Aspen. The path is remarkable in a lot of ways, among them:

• It’s almost completely bike path. No road shoulder riding and even minimal road crossing required.
• It’s almost flat. Which is remarkable given how mountainous the area is. Over the 30 miles one way, I think we gained <300ft of elevation.
• It’s super pretty. We ended up not taking many photos because were biking, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.  : )

This was Elisse’s first ride over 20ish miles (3x-ing that up to 60!). After mid-ride lunch in Aspen and a the 30 miles back to Carbondale, we were both more than ready to just relax for the rest of the day.

The next day we were thinking about hiking Carbondale’s own Mt Sopris, but given our soreness from the previous day we opted for something a little tamer instead. We drove down to Marble, CO – home of one of the largest marble quarries in the US – and got a recommendation from some folks to head up the Raspberry Creek Trail. This rolls up a big mountain shoulder until it arrives at a slightly slanty high alpine meadow. We happened to arrive at the height of fall colors, so everything looked super beautiful. (In one aspen grove there was just enough yellow leaf cover that even the light looked golden.)

All good things must come to an end. This trip was unfortunately no exception. After a leisurely brunch in Aspen, we took the bus up to the Maroon Bells and hiked a long loop around the valley floor, taking in the colors (still beautiful) and scenery. There are probably too many photos included below, but this part of Colorado is just remarkable, so hey.

On our way out from Aspen up Independence Pass (to get to Granite -> Leadville -> Frisco -> Home), we took the Marmot Outlet guy’s recommendation to visit the Grottos and Devil’s Punch Bowl. These cool rock/water features are off little pull-outs along the side of the road – even so there were a fair number of people there. A loop trail brings you to rock slabs that have been deeply carved and shaped by seasons of rain and snow, as well as a big swimming hole that has formed within the rock and now serves as a cliff jumping spot. We decided to stay dry this time…