Next stop was Aspen. The drive in is absolutely gorgeous, just like most of the drives we had been making the previous few days.
My original intention was to take Erika up to the top of one of the mountains via the gondola but that wasn’t possible. They had just closed the mountains down for the winter season and the gondolas weren’t up and running for the summer season yet. We caught it at a bad time.
Then I had another idea. The Maroon Bells are out there – they are very famous mountains near Aspen. Supposedly they are the most photographed part of Colorado. So we drive all the way up and we can see them in the distance. But we find out that the road up there is closed off at a certain point. It was scheduled to open the next day!
It was possible to hike there but it was a six-mile trek on way and it was already lunchtime. That was a bit of a letdown but we found another hike close by. It was pretty tough actually. About two and a half miles to the top and all of it was uphill. But the view from the top was really great. We were able to see the whole town and the mountain range beyond.
We went into the town for lunch and ate at this spot that was like half deli and half dispensary. It was kind of weird but in a good way. Erika hadn’t ever seen the inside of a dispensary before so I took her in. Long story short, the guy said he’d give me a joint for a penny if I gave the shop a 5 star Google review. And I had no problems with that!
I originally wanted to camp down the road from Aspen. BI didn’t realize that the mountain pass was still closed and we wouldn’t be able to drive to that campsite. So we had to drive back to Glenwood Springs and then down I-70 for a bit. But it worked out okay.
I found a free campsite near Eagle. We had to drive up this dirt road and it was a proper 4WD track to be fair. I was a little nervous but the van did absolutely great. I wouldn’t take it on sand or deep snow but on a dirt road like this it was fine.
The road took us to the top of the ridge and we found a great site overlooking the canyon and the highway below. Today was a lesson in being adaptable and resilient. Plans don’t always work but that doesn’t mean things can’t work out!