TRIP #1
Traverse Colorado's Maroon Bells
DURATION: 4–5 days
THE PLAN:

Pro Tip: Gregg Treinish

(1) Gold Bond is good for your feet and your undercarriage. (2) Name each campsite and mark down the GPS coordinates so you can plug them into Google Earth when you get home.

You've seen the jagged Maroon Bells reflected in Maroon Lake in a thousand postcards. Hike the 28-mile Four Pass Loop around the twin fourteeners, however, and you'll see them from angles the day-hiking crowd misses out on. Start by leaving your car at Maroon Lake ($10 fee), just ten miles south of Aspen, and trek a mile southwest to Crater Lake. Be warned: All the passes on the route are above 12,000 feet, so tackle the loop clockwise, knocking out two—West Maroon and Frigid Air—in one ten-mile push on the first day. You'll sleep well that night. On day two, enjoy 40-foot-high King Falls, in Fravert Basin, before heading up the steep Trail Rider Pass. Camp that night at Snowmass Lake, where you can land eager cutthroat trout (try a woolly bugger) for breakfast. And when you finally get to the top of Buckskin Pass, don't forget to look over your shoulder for a stunning view of Snowmass Mountain and Capitol Peak.

(Map by Chris Philpot)

•	Subscribe to Outside and get a FREE Gift!
•	Give the gift of Outside Magazine!
•	Subscribe to Outside Online's free weekly e-mail newsletter featuring gear reviews, fitness advice, galleries, podcasts, and more.