Anyone near Maroon Bells Colorado

[froglady 0]

Anyone done the 26 mile circuit hike?

Heading out there the end of this month for a 4 day backpacking trip. Looking for better weather info then I can find on the normal weather sites. Snow cover?

[skycat 0]

Honestly, it could be anywhere from sunny beautiful in the 50s to snowing/sleeting/nasty. This area is farther south so it may not be to bad, but prepare for the worst because the weather is known to change very rapidly in the mtns.

Fly it like you stole it!

[lawrocket 3]

Check the weather and conditions at Snowmass.

The present snow report is zero base depth, so it does not look like snow is a concern. In my experience from the area, you can probably expect temperatues around the 60's during the day (+ or minus 10) and lows in the mid 30's to mid 20's at night.

Usually by then, the thunderstorms aren't as common, but be prepared for anything. Wierd weather happens there.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[skydemon2 0]

Im closer to blue bells CA

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone!

I like to start my day off with a little Ray of Soulshine™!!

[froglady 0]

Picked further south in the hopes of less snow, guess we'll just bring lots of stuff and see what we need to pack once we're in Aspen.

Excited to experince CO.

[davedlg 0]

Which Loop? The loop of four passes? (West Maroon to Frigid Air to the other two that I cant remember) Or are you going via the conundrum hot springs?

My girlfriend and I went on a hiking trip in that area over July 4th. The snow still hadn't melted out at that point and one of the passes (Triangle Pass) we had to go over was very dangrous with steep snowfields and very loose rock / mud couloirs. The snow should have melted out by now..

That said, the mountains recieved significant snow last weekend . Some of that snow will probably stick around through the winter, so be prepared for cold, wet weather!

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions about the area, I am pretty familar with it!

[froglady 0]

Guess we'll be carry lots of layers. Seems like with all the lakes we'll be able to lighten up on water.

Thank you!!

[froglady 0]

Yup, that's the one (Four Passes). Snow was worried about that, my sister lives out there and just did her first 14er and mentioned snow to mid calf.

PM on it's way.

[davedlg 0]

Those passes approach 13,000 feet in elevation. You will encounter snow. Probably not anything consolidated or thick enough to use an ice axe or cranpons on though... West Maroon Pass is steep with some climbing over rocks at the top. If there is snow up there it may make it dangerous. Not to discourage you but, unless you have experience in the high mountains with snow, you may want to consider another route, something lower (I highly reccomend the out and back to conundrum hot springs). The weather is apt to change very rapidly on you and this time of year significant snow accumulation is possible. On the other hand, it could be warm and sunny the rest of the month and for your trip and you could be looking at no snow and a great loop... You might want to make the call when you get out here.

[davedlg 0]

Here's some pics of the area from July...

-The trailhead at Maroon lake
-The view from W. Maroon Pass looking toward Frigid Air Pass
-Looking toward Pyramid Peak

[froglady 0]

You rock!! 1st hand current info is very helpful, the more we know before starting the better. We planning a second option incase this month continues to drop snow up there and will map out the ways to shorten the loop if need be.


Great pictures, that is one of the goals of our trip.

[froglady 0]

Got some pictures back from our CO trip. What an amazing place!

Due to the 2 feet of snow just days before we arrived we we're unable to due the full loop. After discussing our options we decided to take the challange of going over one pass(buckskin), seeing Snowmass Lake, back over buckskin and then stay around Crater Lake. We were the 1st over buckskin since the snow, very cool to look over the top and see no other foot prints other then animals.

Hope to head out there again in the next year or so.

[davedlg 0]

Hey! Great Pics! I'm glad you got to get up to the high country albeit not the route you had hoped for. At least you got up there before the last few days. After tommorow, you'll probably need snowshoes or skis to get up to those places.