For day 5 it was time to head to the city. Our plan was to finish Taylor pass, hit Aspen end then take Pearl to Crested Butte, however with snow still at the summit of Pearl I change the day to take us through aspen then down valley to Carbondale and camping next to the Crystal River.

While waiting for the sun to dry our gear we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with great views and conversation.  With the largest tent we were last to get fully loaded and ready to go.

We proceeded up the last rocky section to the top of Taylor Pass. When summiting the pass from the east rolling over the top reveals a breathtaking view of the Elk Mountains to the West with Castle Peak and others filling the horizon.

From the top of Taylor there are two options to get into Aspen. The first is Express Creek that takes you down to the Castle Creek Road. The second is to follow the ridge line and the Richmond Hill road. This is the route that we followed. The drive offers spectacular views of both Castle Creek and the Difficult Creek areas.  

The route ends by descending the front of Aspen Mountain into town offering a cool perspective of the town.  The others in our group had never been here and the descent off Aspen Mountain shows the town from a distance away from all the glitz a glitter.

Having spent part of my childhood in Aspen in the 1960’s I miss the old Aspen and always pass through as quick as possible nowadays.

After a stop at the City Market we headed down valley towards Carbondale and Camping. After a stop to fill the water jugs at the home of  http://www.wildsnow.com and a stop to get fuel it was off to camping on the Crystal River.

After a pleasant drive up the valley towards Marble we found a nice camp site at the Bogen Flats Campground. Our site was right on the river and our early time into camps gave our group plenty of time to enjoy the Crystal River.

After dinner and our nightly trip meeting it was off to bed to be ready for an early start the next day.

Day 5 Google Earth KML file

Day 6