September 16, 2015

Last morning in the Aspen.  While out to eat last night,  the waitress told us about a place to see.  It is called Maroon Bells and is about 10 miles up a side road.  Because we were headed for the Arches NP today we were up early and arrived just after sunrise when the best pictures are usually taken.  There are over 200,000 visitors yearly.
We drove up to the entrance to the park and the women working there noticed our Maine plates.She asked where we lived and we told her Newport, about an hour North.. and she cut in and said I know where is is, I lived in Maine for 30 years.  Tom asked her where she lived...Readfield.  I told her I was from Winthrop.  To make a longer story short, she let us in for free.

Maroon Bells is a spectacular location us a side canyon that reportedly has the best sunrises.
The Maroon part of the name comes from the sun's reflection off the red rock.  This morning the weather didn't quite cooperate but we got some great shots anyway.

A Brit who works in the area had his drone up and about.

Finally the sun starts peeking through.

For more spectacular pics that have been taken over the years, go to the link  Maroon Bells

On the way out of Snowmass, we got a couple more pics.  Flowers are so beautiful,

Further along the road the red rock becomes more apparent.

The Colorado River

The Arches National Park features rocks...and since no 2 are the same, we took lots of pics

This rock outcrop is called the 3 gossips.

Balanced Rock

Landscape Arch

Petition Arch

Petition arch above

Navajo Arch

A view from the top of the trail

Looking at the way back down

Found Grammie!

Tunnel Arch

Mountains to the East

A great day for visiting a National Park.  The food at the Moab Brewing Bar and Grill was also great and another full day ahead of us.

Today we went over 3300 miles since we began, reached our westernmost point and still have quite a few more things to see.