Aug 5: Last Day in Aspen

Our last day in Aspen, I walked to town on the East of Aspen Trail, and around town (about 4-5 miles), met Gary in town, ran some errands, then we had one "final lunch" at Gary's new favorite rib place, Hickory House. 

That afternoon, we decided to walk a "little bit" of the Difficult Trail which starts in our campground. The entire trail is 9 miles round trip, with about 2000 ft elevation gain. We were not prepared for the big hike, just planning to do a mile or so - but somehow we ended up doing nearly the whole hike. We got poured on along the way, Gary ran out of water (had only brought a little tiny bottle - not his water pack - and no jacket!); we considered turning back, but we could see blue sky coming on and were feeling pretty good, so we pushed on.

Gary now calls this trail the Great Disappointment - because with 2000 ft elevation gain, you'd expect some views! Then where we thought it was "the end" was a sign saying "Trail not maintained beyond this point" and the trail past that was all fallen trees - climbing over and under - so we thought we must have completed the entire trail. It was getting late, storms were on the rise, so we turned around - never did see whatever treat was at the end of this trail! Just 8 miles of climbing with nary a view except a little peek down the canyon over our campground. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the hike, it was great exercise and beautiful woods (though 12+ miles was a big day for me!). Gary, however, griped most of the way back down, about this being the worst trail ever.....trail's gotta have something to offer besides aspen groves and mushrooms to be "worth it" for him....but I have to hand it to him - he hasn't been hiking as much as me, so this was really a stretch for him. He made it, and still had energy to gripe!

When we returned to the trailhead and reviewed the map, nowhere did it indicate there was an "unmaintained trail" area - yet it appeared we had turned around 1/2 mile before the end. Bummer.

The next morning, we packed up, hitched up and headed out towards Ridgway - but on the way out - surprise! - there was actually parking - adequate for the RV - on the main street near Hickory House. Gary got to enjoy one last rib feast before leaving Aspen. And we'd earned it after that hike!