Kebler Pass

Just outside of Crested Butte is the 31-mile gravel road to Kebler Pass and beyond. Since it's considered one of the premier Aspen drives in Colorado, we just had to do it ... and found a good hike part way along it. We knew, of course, that we weren't the only people who had the idea, so we got an early start to beat the crowds. We had bluebird skies, and the Aspen's stretched almost as far as the eye could see ... the massive (~12,000') peaks beyond hemmed them in.

For the less informed, Aspen groves develop by sprouting from spreading roots, resulting in individual groves of genetically identical trees ... i.e., a single organism. One in Utah has been measured at 100 acres! And there's some thought that some of the groves near Kebler Pass are even larger, but the resources needed to map out the boundaries of the individual groves (quite a chore, without much real need) has never been allocated.

Our hike (Dyke Trail > Irwin Trail > Dark Canyon Trail) was spectacular ... wandering through golden groves and finding big views in the upper portion. We seemed to get all the stages of the Aspens ... from just starting to turn, to completely leafless. It seemed like the variation was in chunks, and we attributed it to different genetics in different groves. But who knows? We had things almost entirely to ourselves for the first half of the hike, but the hiker density certainly increased by the final leg back to the car. And the parking lot was insane!

The remainder of the scenic drive was nice, though a side trip was cut short by concerns that we were running short on gas. At the end of the gravel road, we turned north onto a paved highway (also very beautiful), eventually found some gas, and headed toward our meetup with Brian and Sophia.