Maroon Bells & Hanging Lake

There are so many beautiful places in Colorado we haven't been yet. So, in an attempt to see two in one trip, we planned a camping trip to Aspen so we could hike the Maroon Bells and then stop at Hanging Lake on the way home. I waited too long to get reservations, so we crossed our fingers in hopes of getting a campsite. There are only a handful of campgrounds with limited sites in each one. At the very last campground, we finally found three spots left. We picked the most secluded and set up camp. Much to our suprise, a deer wandered through our camp, checked things out, and then continued on her way. Regan was in awe. To stretch the kids' legs before we strapped them back in the car to head up to Maroon Bells, we walked across the road to the the Lostman Trailhead and hiked up to the reservoir. The kids loved finding the fish in the canal and throwing rocks into the lake. They both protested when we headed back to camp.

The Maroon Bells are absolutely beautiful. We weren't able to hike much up there because it was getting late and cold, and the kids would have declared mutiny. Hiking with two ornery kids does not exactly let you enjoy the beautiful surroundings!

When we got back to camp, Regan insisted on roasting marshmallows, and then we had to bundle up for bed. The next morning we packed up and headed for Hanging Lake. I had read about how beautiful it was online, but nobody really mentioned the trail to get there. It was one of the steepest and most technical trails I have ever been on. Not to mention, hauling two kids up! The view at the top is definitely worth all the work it takes to get up there, though.

There was a log sticking out into the lake that Regan begged Clint to take her on. I was rather surprised; Regan is hardly the adventurous one of our kids.

With Clint's help, she didn't fall off and then bragged about how brave she was the rest of the time. Because she was such a good little rock climber, she wanted to climb to the top of the falls. You can go behind the waterfall and, once again, the view is amazing. We got to the top and both kids were nervous because of the loud noise the falls created. Regan wanted to take our picture

and then Haden wanted to take a picture.

On the way back down the mountain, Haden fell sound asleep in Clint's arms, despite Clint having to maneuver around all the rocks on his descent. Regan was getting tired and asking to be carried until I suggested that we beat the boys down the mountain. On our rest break, Regan told Clint to look at the water. She then grabbed my hand and started running down the trail! Clint was very good to fall for her line every time. We eventually made it down. I thought both kids would be sound asleep on the way home, but they talked, sang, yelled, and entertained each other all the way home. We all slept very well that night!