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The Maroon Bells: A Great Idea
The Uptowns spent the last three weeks in Aspen. The Little One went to her first camp, Mrs. U hiked hundreds of miles of mountain trails, I wrote. And, last week, I co-hosted Plum TV's coverage of the The Aspen Ideas Festival.
Aspen is $6 million houses with "pilot's quarters" and hotels with a "ski valet" and Prada/Dior/St. Laurent, but it's also a place of great natural beauty. And nothing is more pristine than the Maroon Bells, giant peaks that reach 14,000 feet. There's a lake at their base. And great hiking trails. You have to be an idiot--or infirm--to come to Aspen in warm weather and not hike here.
So we went. I'd acclimated to the height. Or so I thought...but at 11,000+ feet, you don't walk easily. There are fields of "scree"--loose, rocky debris--that make walking difficult. You pick your way up the trail like a smart horse, paying total attention to every step.
Every once in a while--or more often, if you're me--you stop. You gasp for air like a hunched-over basketball player during a time-out. And you look up. And around.
The most important event in this place occurred maybe 300 million years ago. And no humans were involved. The force that was--for ease of use, I'll call it "God." Because another force is even more beyond my understanding. It's not just the height and the clarity of the sky and the way the clouds nestle around the peaks. It's the shades of green, the distant pine trees looking like the tiny toy trees that come with model train sets, the absolute majesty of nature.
And then there's the human factor. These mountains are called "the Deadly Bells" for a reason. As a warning sign indicates, the snow is "poorly consolidated" and avalanches can occur without warning. Experience is no help in that case. All you can do is try to make it to clumps of mature trees and hope they're equal to the assault.
God the magnificent. God the destroyer. Man in the middle. I got that clearly at the Bells. So if you ask me about the Festival, I'd say: "A great experience. You ought to consider going." Ask me about the Bells? No contest, they're an absolute must.
Aspen is $6 million houses with "pilot's quarters" and hotels with a "ski valet" and Prada/Dior/St. Laurent, but it's also a place of great natural beauty. And nothing is more pristine than the Maroon Bells, giant peaks that reach 14,000 feet. There's a lake at their base. And great hiking trails. You have to be an idiot--or infirm--to come to Aspen in warm weather and not hike here.
So we went. I'd acclimated to the height. Or so I thought...but at 11,000+ feet, you don't walk easily. There are fields of "scree"--loose, rocky debris--that make walking difficult. You pick your way up the trail like a smart horse, paying total attention to every step.
Every once in a while--or more often, if you're me--you stop. You gasp for air like a hunched-over basketball player during a time-out. And you look up. And around.
The most important event in this place occurred maybe 300 million years ago. And no humans were involved. The force that was--for ease of use, I'll call it "God." Because another force is even more beyond my understanding. It's not just the height and the clarity of the sky and the way the clouds nestle around the peaks. It's the shades of green, the distant pine trees looking like the tiny toy trees that come with model train sets, the absolute majesty of nature.
And then there's the human factor. These mountains are called "the Deadly Bells" for a reason. As a warning sign indicates, the snow is "poorly consolidated" and avalanches can occur without warning. Experience is no help in that case. All you can do is try to make it to clumps of mature trees and hope they're equal to the assault.
God the magnificent. God the destroyer. Man in the middle. I got that clearly at the Bells. So if you ask me about the Festival, I'd say: "A great experience. You ought to consider going." Ask me about the Bells? No contest, they're an absolute must.
