Maroon Peak

September 5, 2021 / 14,156’

RT STATS: TOTAL TIME - 11 HR & 56 MIN, 10.81 MILES* (ACTUALLY 12+ miles), AND 4,999’ ELEVATION GAIN

TIME STATS: 5 HR & 54 MIN TO SUMMIT, 41 MIN AT SUMMIT, 5 HR & 21 MIN BACK TO TH

RATING (HOW MUCH I LIKED THE HIKE): 8/10

Maroon Peak was the second peak of this quick Labor Day 2021 trip!!! This was my 52nd CO 14er and my dad’s 49th CO 14er. We were planning to start this climb at 3:30am, so we woke up at 1:30am and left where we were staying at Glenwood Springs at 2am. We got to the TH at 3:18am and promptly set off at 3:30am. This was quite the turnaround from Pyramid Peak the day before—we were starting exactly 12 hours and 5 minutes after we had finished Pyramid Peak! Anyways, the first part was completely flat as we were walking around Maroon Lake. Unlike Pyramid Peak where we turned off the initial trail for Crater Lake, we went past Crater Lake and were hiking along the West Maroon Creek trail.

At the 1 hour and 26 minute mark/3.5 miles in, we hit the turn off on the right hand side and headed up the Maroon Creek Trail. We took a mini break here and I got my poles out. The first part of the trail was well laid out and rocky. As we continued to gain elevation, there wasn’t really an evident trail so we really just made our way up. We started to see the sunrise at just after 6am and, pretty soon after, I took off my headlamp since it was now light enough to see.

The next hour or so of the hike becomes more rocky, and, as I mentioned above, there really wasn’t a distinct path to follow. Rather, we just made our way up towards the South Ridge. At approximately 12,900’, we hit a ridge crest (4th picture below), and, from here, it was approximately 20 more minutes until we reached the ridge!

At the 4 hour and 1 minute mark, we were up on the South Ridge—elevation ~13,250’. At this point, we got a stunning view of Maroon Peak (in the first row, third picture below, the summit is the taller of the two bumps). About 7 minutes later, we took a break and put on our helmets because we had now approached the FUN PART!!!!!! Pretty soon, we climbed up a chimney and then through a notch (second row, third and fourth pictures below).

As in my other posts, I am just going to post a lot of pictures (in order unless some of them got switched). We climbed up a couple gullies, rock bands, and navigated A LOT of loose rock. The Elk Mountains are dangerous and you have to pay attention!!!

Soon enough, we were up on the ridge crest and THE SUMMIT WAS IN SIGHT!!! And, within about 5 minutes……5 hours and 54 minutes after beginning, the climb, WE WERE ON THE SUMMIT OF MAROON PEAK!!! My 52nd Colorado 14er :) It still feels crazy to say that. We could see SNOWMASS (My FAVORITE 14ER that I summited by myself exactly 52 weeks earlier), Capitol (my dad and I summited Capitol a month earlier), Pyramid (my dad and I summited the day before), and North Maroon (one of my 6 left!).

It was so cool standing atop one of the Bells. When I was out in Colorado in summer 2019, I had gotten a Shoppers card from King Soopers (Kroger basically) and, what do you know, the Maroon Bells are on the card! The card still sits in my wallet today, and, I definitely have taken it out and just thought about how I have summited one of the Bells. We spent quite a long time on the summit (41 minutes) before beginning our descent!

I’d say most people will probably agree that, on the descent, you need to pay even more perfect attention (is this even possible to be more perfect?? haha) on the descent. It took us 1 hour and 33 minutes to descend to that spot where we initially put on our helmets. We took a break here again and saw Pyramid Peak. I took some pictures here, but only some are posted below (ask me why…).

Frankly, the rest of the hike was extremely relaxed. We were not moving at our normal speed, but, oh well, it means more time in the mountains! I whipped out my xtra cheddar goldfish, sat on the trail, and just ate some. I took a selfie of me and the bag of goldfish, but, apparently I suck at putting on rubbing sunscreen in, so I’m not posting it hahaha. We hit the trail turn off at the 10 hour and 25 minute mark—we were now off of the Maroon Peak trail. :(

My dad knows (one of…) my famous phrase(s) “I want real food” and I definitely said this, uh, multiple times on the descent already. It was cool, as is the case always, seeing where you were hiking when it was dark out (before the sunrise). Because, even with a headlamp, you still are just kind of wandering in the dark and don’t exactly know where you’re at. It was fun turning around, seeing the Bells from afar, and knowing that you were just up there a few hours ago! As you can tell in the second row of pictures below, I am SO HAPPY (and post whatever pictures I want haha). My facial expression in the 2nd row, 4th picture is a classic of mine apparently (cough cough Kit Carson & Challenger, Blanca & Ellingwood, Crestone Peak, Longs Peak, Snowmass, the list could go on and on ;) )

11 hours and 56 minutes later, we finished MAROON PEAK!!!!! Such a fun, but exhausting weekend (that still was not over!!!! Read on—it’s really just an account of the “real food” we finally got to eat). First, we hit up Home Team BBQ in Aspen. Funny story, there is a Home Team location in Charleston, but I never ate there growing up…it’s just so weird how there are only a few Home Team BBQs and, randomly, one is in Aspen. I got pulled pork, mac & cheese, and a tomato/cucumber salad. Very good, but hardly any food. I told my dad we were gonna get another meal in a few hours haha.

Now, we were on our way to the Denver International Airport area. We drove up through Glenwood Springs and got on I-70. We stopped at Outback in Denver…enjoy this nice picture of the outside. I ate a big piece of sirloin (12 oz.), salad, mixed vegetables, and two whole loaves of the bread. After this, we checked into the hotel. Just like on our August trip, we purposely got flights leaving within 20 minutes of each other the next morning. And, also like last time, we went to Snooze to get breakfast. I got the same omelette, pancake, and hash browns as last time. I think this is a tradition now. Lastly, enjoy this picture of my dad pointing out the Bells at some random booth in the airport. THIS WAS SUCH A FUN TRIP. I can’t wait to go back out West next year!!!!!!