Colorado Adventure 2009 | Day 4
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
On Day 4 we slept in a little bit longer than on the previous days before getting up and breaking down camp. As I stated in the first post on this trip report, Amanda only had 4 days with me before she had to go back to work. Being the 4th day, we needed to head back to Grand Junction this day. There was one trail that I was not able to check out earlier on the trip because it was not yet clear of snow accoriding to my research before leaving, however, after checking again the night before, I knew it was now passable…so we made our way over to Pearl Pass on our way home.
In order to get to Pearl Pass we needed to head over to Aspen. I decided to head over Independence Pass. Even though it’s paved, I figured since I had not drivin it before, I might as well check it out.
Once in Aspen we headed up Express Creek Road to the start of Pearl Pass. This was an amazing trail and probably one of my favorites in the state! So let me warn you, I was a little camera happy and took a ton of photos……and I’m going to post a bunch of them. So if you don’t like looking at photos of great trail scenery, then you may want to go read another thread instead 😉 On to the photos….
Start of the trail
Waterfall along the trail
Recently repaired bridge
Now above the waterfall
Another sign as we climb higher
You can see the Montezuma Basin trail in the distance
If you look closely in this one, you can see Pearl Pass on the left….there is a narrow shelf road leading up to it.
Getting closer to the pass
This was the only section of snow we encountered, and as you can see, there were already a few tracks through it.
Finally, at the pass!
The road down the other side to Crested Butte
Still plenty of wildflowers near Crested Butte
Once we made it to Crested Butte, we stopped for a quick lunch and topped off the gas tank before heading back to GJ via Kebler Pass again. I got to sleep in my own bed one night before heading back out on my own.