#TravelTuesday Evergreen Lake

Last year my wife and I took a short trip to Aspen, Colorado. To avoid a monumental change in altitude it was suggested to me that we might want to spend a night in Denver and allow our bodies to get acclimated more gradually. The spot we chose was the little town of Evergreen. Bear Creek rambles its way through the small rustic town, winding its way beneath narrow bridges and around the setting of our hotel. Following the stream upwards leads to Evergreen Lake. Evergreen grew as a town in the late 1800’s and was primarily a lumber producing village. At its height of growth back then it boasted 200 residents and six saw mills. Now the lake is used mainly for recreational purposes.

The evening we were there became cloudy and overcast, but for about fifteen minutes the Sun tried desperately to break through and light up the sky. It created this interesting sight in the sky.

Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 44mm f/9 ISO 100 1/40 sec

#TravelTuesday The Maroon Bells

There’s a pair of fourteeners just south of Aspen Colorado called collectively the Maroon Bells. Fourteeners, in high country lingo, means that the peak of the mountain is above 14,000 feet above sea level. Maroon peak reaches 14,156 feet while North Maroon peak is slightly less grand at 14,014 feet. We set out to see this popular photography scene soon after checking into our hotel in Snomass village. The nice part for lazy people, or weary travelers like ourselves, is that the hike to see the iconic view of the Bells is only about a 5 minute walk from a parking lot in the White River National Forest. Along the 15 minute drive through the park a few of the inhabitant said "Hi".

A small entrance fee grants access for a few days and we took advantage of it, twice. This was our first view of the bells overlooking Maroon Lake.


I wished for more clouds so there would be some more drama in the sky, but for the majority of our time in Aspen  we had very few “white puffies”. I tried putting the Sun in the picture for a bit more to look at and I think it works pretty nicely.

 

If you’ll notice there’s not a lot of reflections from the lake, that’s because I was using a polarizing filter to cut them down.  I think the clarity and color of the water itself created a nice aquamarine depth to Maroon Lake.

 

The Bells are maroon are mainly formed of sediment instead of the granite like most mountains in the area, that's what gives them their maroon color.

Behind us stood this small grove of Aspen trees.  I was envious of their view, for they get to watch Maroon Lake and the Bells season after season while storms, snow, fog , and sunsets transform the scene.

 

We returned to see the Bells after our second day a little later in the day after the Sun had fallen behind the cliffs to the right. I left the polarizer off the lens this time because I felt the reflection added to the calmness of the water.  

 

The Sun setting behind the ridge yielded this wonderful view.

 

Of course we did take notice of this sign as we were leaving.  We were glad we had left our unicorn at home this trip.

 

Aspen Day One

While planning the trip to Aspen, more than a few websites cautioned about the altitude of the city. At just under eight thousand feet, that’s just about eight thousand feet higher than Philadelphia (39 feet above sea level). Slow acclimation was stressed to avoid certain unpleasant side effects of visiting destinations with higher altitudes, so we landed in Denver and planned to sleep our first night in the little town of Evergreen. We picked up our Kia Soul and after a brief stop for lunch in Denver we set off. Upon leaving the city, the promise of inviting vistas presented itself just off the highway.

Arriving at our hotel, the Highland Haven Creekside Inn we were greeted by what I believe was a female mule deer and a fawn gorging themselves on the local flora. The asphalt in the picture was the driveway to our hotel, so I guess the wildlife is a bit less shy in Colorado.  

 

Check in completed, we decided to explore.  There are many hiking trails in the area around Evergreen so we ventured out for a little high altitude exercise.

 

The Aspen trees posed so nicely in front of the distant mountains showing their brilliant green leaves against the dark evergreens in the background.

 

After a long day of travel we headed out to dinner at The Bistro at Marshdale which had wonderful food and delicious cocktails. Especially my wife's Cranberry Mojito. 

Leaving the bistro just before dusk gave us some nice light to photograph on the way back to our room.  

 

DSC_0173.jpg

Tomorrow it's off to Aspen!