Aspen Wedding

Thursday, July 17:  We set the alarm for 6:00 AM, to get to the Aspen Highlands Resort in time for our shuttle reservation to Maroon Bells in the White River National Forest. The Bells are two 14,000-foot mudstone peaks that are dangerous to climb, but beautiful to look at and hike to. After the eight-mile shuttle ride to the trailhead, we took a guided hike to Crater Lake, led by a summer employee of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES), a local non-profit dedicated to the education and preservation of the area. The one-way, two-hour tour was filled with local knowledge about geology, biology, flora and fauna. At Crater Lake, we ate lunch and hiked down to the trailhead where we met the Calahan and Diem families, who were waiting for the bride and groom to arrive after saying their wedding vows on an 11-mile private hike from Crested Butte to Maroon Bells. After everyone arrived and hugs, kisses and introductions were taken care of, we took the shuttle to the Highlands Alehouse for celebratory drinks, followed by a family dinner at the nearby Woody Creek Tavern. 

We saw several pikas on the trail

Crater Lake

Friday, July 18: After a peaceful night at the cabin, we returned to Aspen for Day 2 of activities with the wedding party and families. We rode the Silver Queen Gondola up 4,000 feet to the top of Aspen Mountain, where we hiked about five miles on one of the mountaintop service roads. After lunch at the top, we took the gondola back down the mountain, then window-shopped in Aspen until we tired of the glitz and shine of this upscale resort city and returned to our cabin. 

The Utes were the original inhabitants of this area, but were gradually displaced as prospectors found valuable minerals, including silver, in the mountains. Aspen is in Pitkin County, named after Colorado’s second governor, who believed that the Ute people did not properly utilize their land and thus white settlers had the right to claim it. The town went from a small mining camp in 1880 to a booming city ten years later, complete with electric lights, street cars, sewer system, hospital, banks, police department, three schools, opera house and roller skating rink. A national economic depression and the collapse of the silver market in the 1890s triggered a downward spiral in Aspen’s fortunes, with the population declining by 50% between 1893 and 1900. The area limped along as a small ranching and farming community until the first ski resorts were constructed in the late 1930s. Ski racing and jumping were becoming popular and the area flourished during the post World War II boom, with the population growing for the first time since 1890. Aspen today is a popular year-round destination, with a reputation as a playground for the rich and famous and skyrocketing property values. Map link: Aspen, CO

Back at the Lazy Bear Cabin, we cooked baked potatoes with fixings for dinner, played a family game (Tranquility) then watched the stars on the deck until bedtime.

Bonus Question: True or False: The United States Army once had a Camel Corps.

Saturday, July 19:  We slept in, chilled out at the cabin, lounged on the deck and admired the mountains and the mule deer that have visited the yard every day. Three of our group have seen black bears on the trip, but none at the cabin, although the property manager warned that they are around. In the afternoon we dressed up in our finery (mine borrowed from my brother) to attend Kata and Chris’ wedding reception in Aspen. It was an outdoor affair, adjacent to the Aspen Historical Society Museum, which we visited before enjoying the fresh-made pizza, charcuterie, and music from a local band, that the bride is a guest singer for in her spare time.

Bonus Question Answer: True. In the mid-19th century, the U.S. Army experimented with using camels as pack animals in the American Southwest. Tests began as early as 1836, but it wasn’t until 1853, when Secretary of War Jefferson Davis championed the effort. Although camels proved well suited to the arid environment and outperformed horses and mules, the army ultimately rejected the idea and the outbreak of the Civil War put an end to the program. Fun fact: During the Civil War, King Mongut of Siam offered to send elephants to the Union Army, but President Lincoln politely declined the offer.