The Maroon Bells

Surrounded by the stunning beauty of the Rocky Mountains, it’s hard to pick a trail and go wrong with a morning’s hike. Like Florida, Colorado is a place where it’s best to be out on the trail by dawn and off it by noon, mainly due to the frequent thunderstorms that roll across the peaks.

In the summer of 2000, a day hike at White River National Forest near Aspen led to this beauty spot. On the high plateau, several miles up the trail, the mountains felt no closer and the terrain became extremely boggy. But surrounded by this beauty, it was easy to ignore the tough stuff underfoot and just keep looking up!