Aspen

On my birthday Cal surprised me by telling me he had planned and arranged for he and I to go on a fall trip together.  At the end of September we went away for a weekend.  We stayed in Glenwood Springs, but spent most of our time in Aspen, hoping to see some pretty fall colors.  We were a little worried we would be too late and miss the leaves, and it may have been a little past it's prime, but it was gorgeous.  We took the shuttle up to the Maroon Bells and hiked around a bit.  By the time we caught the shuttle and got up there, it was past lunch time and we had neglected to pack more than a couple of light snacks, so we didn't spend too long there.  It was pretty crowded anyway.

 

There were lots of signs of beavers in the area.  There were lots of beaver dams and we found lots of tree stumps like this that beavers had gnawed down.  Pretty impressive!  

There was this huge beaver lodge at the lake too.

After getting some lunch in town, we headed up another canyon to the ghost town of Ashcroft. The drive up was spectacular.  

These aspens were incredible.

 

This was about as far up the canyon as you can drive, and close to Ashcroft.  So pretty!

Ashcroft was a silver mining town in the 1880's.  It is at a really high elevation and sounded like really harsh living.  The town didn't last very long...

 

I love ghost towns!  They are fascinating.

View from inside the old hotel.