This file contains some basic info about the pictures in this directory. During my two trips to Aspen during summer 2006, I took 5 hikes (though one, hike 4, was very short!). Here is the lineup: hike1: Peak above Lost-Man Pass, July 15; with Denis, Eduardo, and Stefan hike2: East Snowmass Creek, July 16; with Denis and Eduardo hike3: Electric Pass, July 22; with Denis, Eduardo, and Stefan hike4: Valley between Grizzly Reservoir and Ruby, August 6; with Dad hike5: Buckskin Pass, August 7; with Dad ______________________________________________________________________ hike1: Independence Lake, Lost-Man Pass, Peak on continental divide above Lost-Man Pass, Harold and Stefan return to car by cross country to Linkins Lake and then down the trail to the car, Denis and Eduardo continue from Lost-Man Pass down Lost Man Creek to the road. This is a wonderful first hike which starts out high so the elevation change isn't too bad. (The trail head is at the last big switchback before Independence Pass.) The day was very sunny, so those who didn't put on sunscreen regularly got burned. We started by going to Independence Lake (slides numbered 1-6), then continued on the trail to Lost-Man Pass (8,11) where we got very close to a marmot (8). From the Pass we walked cross country to an unnamed peak on the Continental Divide. This was steep! and I got badly hit by altitude sickness (I later realized I had let myself get severly dehydrated at the Center during the week...). We had lunch with the beautiful view (12-24)! Upon returning to the Pass (25 shows Eduardo descending to the pass, 26 shows Independence Lake while descending), we split in two groups. Denis and Eduardo continued on the Lost-Man Trail, completing the so-called Lost-Man Loop by walking down the valley of Lost Man Creek. Stefan and I went back to the car via Linkins Lake. In order to avoid going up anymore, we left the trail just above Indpendence Lake and contoured cross country around a large basin to Linkins Lake on the other side (route is visible in slides 12 and 16). I had some dizzy spells from altitude sickness, and took it easy. Stefan went up to another pass (unnamed, no trail) which leads into Lost Man Creek (he couldn't see Denis and Eduardo, however). The basin on the way to Linkins Lake was full of flowers - really incredible (29-35). Linkins Lake was lovely (39,40) - a little greener than Independence because it is a little lower. The hike down from Linkins was great (41): it is very steep and I felt I was just haning over the valley with this great view of the Continental Divide on the other side. Back at the car, we rested and went to pick up Eduardo and Denis at the other trailhead. ______________________________________________________________________ hike2: We hiked up East Snowmass Creek for a ways - perhaps 2/3 of the way to the pass. Afterwards, Denis and I did some car touring (Ruedi reservoir). Because of my altitude sickness the previous day, we decided to pick a low hike for Sunday. We took a lovely walk in the valley of East Snowmass Creek, sometimes along the creek (1-4). There was quite a bit of hot climbing, almost as much elevation change as on Saturday. The ridges around the valley had very red (maroon!) rock (7,9), which wasn't captured very well in my camera for some reason. It was a very pleasant lowland hike. Afterward, we visited the renewable resources think-tank center that is nearby (10), and Denis and I drove by the big reservoir that is in the valley of the Fryingpan River, Ruedi Reservoir (11). ______________________________________________________________________ hike3: We did the most direct circuit: straight up to Electric Pass, then return via Cathedral Lake. A wonderful day! The first 6 pictures are on the way up to the shoulder before the pass. The weather was good! Cathedral Lake makes its appearence in slides 5 and 6. Notice also the lush meadows. Slide 7 is of the pass - it is the little notch in the far ridge shown. We paused on the shoulder but the weather was getting worse (8,9), so we went straight on to the summit. (The trail looked terrible with lots of loose rock, but it really wasn't bad.) Fantastic views from the pass! (10-15) Picture 15 is the view toward Cathedral Lake, showing the way we came up. Lunch back on the shoulder. Then descent to Cathedral Lake. Weather has improved a lot! And walking through those meadows of flowers was just glorioius! Cathedral Lake (20-23) was beautiful. We walked around it. Sefan, particularly, enjoyed meditating at the lake (21) and even went wading inn it. ______________________________________________________________________ hike4: Brief walk along jeep road between Grizzly Reservoir and Ruby. Our idea was to have a short hike after driving out the Lincoln Creek jeep road to Ruby. But we didn't make it! The road was much rougher than I had anticipated, especially for my lack of experience at driving 4wd! So at one point we stopped, and walked along the road a little to get away from the car. ______________________________________________________________________ hike5: The classic Aspen hike - Maroon Lake, Crater Lake, Minnehaha Gulch, Buckskin Pass, and return. The weather was very threatening, but it didn't actually rain until toward the end.