Maroon Bells

In the Monday, June 22, 2015, we left the cozy camping in the "Rifle Falls State Park" and drove to the ridge "Elk Mountains".
These mountains are a part of the Rocky Mountains and are located near the town of Aspen.
These are very beautiful places - the mountains, covered with snow, the forests, green meadows and blue lakes.

You can have an active rest in summer and winter here: like a walking, a cycling and skiing and to conquer a pair of mountain peaks.
The best-known peaks are here - it's the "Maroon Peak" and the "North Maroon Peak", which are briefly called the "Maroon Bells".
This scenic area has the same name - "Maroon Bells Scienic Area".
*Maroon Bells Scienic Area*

A rural life was near with the roads 70 and 82, where we were driving.
Fields...

Meadows...

And farms...

The road took no more than 1.5 hours.

Near the city of Aspen we turned onto the road 13 and arrived to the recreation area - the "Maroon Bells Scienic Area".
*Maroon Bells - what you need know*
GPS-coordinates: 39°10'56.5"N, 106°51'21.8"W

You can not enter to the park by a car...
So, we left the car in the parking lot and got into a bus with a driver - a guide, who spoke very interestingly about the park.

It's the "Maroon Bells Welcome Station"...
GPS-coordinates: 39°08'48.6"N, 106°53'37.2"W

The recreation area attracts tourists not only as the snowy peaks and the aspen groves.
The dream of all professional photographers is located here - the Maroon Lake.

The best photos are obtained at sunrise and sunset.
We, photographers - amateurs arrived late in the morning, but we were impressed by the beauty of the lake on the background of snowy mountains.

The bus stopped at the bus stop and we went down the trail to the lake...

The water in the lake were crystal clear and cold...

A snow is melting on mountain tops and streams rush down, are filling the Maroon Lake.

At first we walked along the shore of the lake, we were delighted with the color of water with ducks on the lake surface.

And then, we decided to walk along a trail in the direction of the mountains...

The path runs along the creek, near the lake shore.

Our eyes were watering from the bright sun, a green vegetation and from a white snow.

Mountains, forests and meadows were all around us.

Layers of snow slide down from the mountains, turn into streams and rush down...

We moved on...

The snowy peaks of the mountains were getting closer and closer

It's edge of the lake...

The bridge was thrown across the stream.
We crossed to the other side of the creek.

We returned back to the bus stop by the trail near the creek.

Goodbye "Maroon Bells", goodbye "Maroom Lake"...
We were moving further along our route.

Through the town of Aspen to the "Independence Pass", by the highway 82.

The city of Aspen is located in the Rocky Mountains, it known as a mining town since 1879.
A silver was mined here.
And now - it is a very popular ski resort, located 18 km from the Continental Divide.
The city got its name from the groves of Aspen trees in the area.
*Aspen, Colorado*

So, what is it - an Aspen tree?
For the first time, we saw the Aspen trees year ago in September...
And we thought it was a birch tree ..., a North American birch.
Because it tree is very similar to a birch...
But this is not the birch, and an aspen in North America does not look like an aspen in northern Europe.

This article helped me to understand...
Difference Between Birch Trees and Aspen Trees

A birch and an aspen are similar in appearance, but a birch has a lighter bark that peels off easily.
A bark of an aspen is coarser and does not peel off.
The leaves are also similar, but the aspen leaves are rounder and more finely toothed.
An aspen is higher than a birch and lives longer.
But the main difference is that the aspens grow as colonies, from the same root.
Well, a birch is a separate tree with its a root system.

The Aspen City, with groves of aspens, stayed behind.
We were driving up to the Continental Divide by the road 82.
*Continental Divide*

The Continental Divide of the Americas is an imaginary line.
The basin of the Pacific Ocean is located to the west of a line.
And the basins of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans are located to the east of a line.
Rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean on one side of a Divide, and into the Atlantic Ocean - on the other side.
The Continental Divide begins in Alaska, it goes through the North America and the South America to the Tierra del Fuego.

Here in Colorado, the Continental Divide - it is the "Independence Pass" on HWY 82.
*Independence Pass*
GPS-coordinates: 39°06'29.6"N, 106°33'51.1"W

It is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Its height - 3687 m.
The mountain pass fills up with a snow in the winter and the road closed.

But we moved in June and the pass was opened.

It place is very popular among tourists...
Cars were parked in the parking lot, and tourists were walking on the snow...

There are a lot of trails, where you can walk...

There is also a view area.

The landscapes are fantastic!

After the "Independence Pass" we drove near the Lake Creek...

And then we turned onto the road 24.

And we came on HWY 70, close from the Eisenhower Tunnel.

The Eisenhower Tunnel is located on Highway 70, 97 km from Denver.
It passes under the ridge of the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains, at an altitude of 3.4 km.
*Eisenhower Tunnel*
GPS-coordinates: 39°40'43.1"N, 105°56'07.8"W

A tunnel length - 2.73 km.
It was open in 1979.
The cost of work amounted to 108 million dollars.

Let's go...

According to the plan, we were going to turn into the road 103 and get to the observation area - "Mount Evans Scenic Byway" by the road 5.
*Mount Evans Scenic Byway*

It is located at an altitude of 4348 meters.

It is the highest place in the US, where you can climb on the car.

GPS-coordinates: 39°35'15.8"N, 105°38'32.5"W

We were going to move also by the "Squaw Pass Road".
This road is very popular among the bikers...
*Squaw Pass Road*
*Squaw Pass Road - dangerous road*

But our GPS navigator broke, we decided not to risk it and to spend the night in Denver, which was near.

Because the next day, we were going to the "Rocky Mountain National Park"!