We were up up up at the crack of dawn to drive into Snowmass to catch the hot air balloon races as part of the 48th annual Snowmass Balloon Festival.
We stopped for Mexican food on the way back to our campsite. Mom and Dad had margaritas. They were very nice.
We arrived right a bit after 7am (the allocated start time) but didn't see any balloons yet. What luck! Perhaos they knew we were running a bit behind and had waited for us. Alas, that was not the case. Despite the weather on the ground being extraordinary there were some wind gusts blowing higher up thatade balloon flight unsafe. The balloonists were at least able to inflate some of the balloons for the crowd.
With no balloon race to watch we were left with a pretty large hole in our day. We decided to head up to Independence Lake for a long hike. Aspen and Snowmass are around 7,000 feet above sea level, but the Independence Lake hike was at 11,000. This wouldnt have been too bad except for two things:
1. The first half of the hike was almost entirely up hill
2. In order to keep Remy moving we usually have to engage him with a story or some other form of conversation
Dad was huffing and puffing like a train for most of the uphill portion, but we were rewarded with some exceptional views and a very pretty lake at our designated stopping point. The trail was in the middle of a valley, and there were lots of streams to cross. Most of the climbing was up rocks and steps. Everyone noted how exposed this hike was, whereas many of the hikes in the PNW are in heavily forested areas. Luckily the way down was quite a bit easier on the lungs.
After some recovery snacks in the car we went to Independence Ghost Town. The ghost town is an abandoned mining city that popped up when gold was discovered in the river. All that is left now are a few homes and what was probably the town mercantile or hotel. We did not see any ghosts.
Our last adventure stop for the day was at the grottos to play in the river a bit and soak our feet. We did a small hike to some caves but decided our footwear was inappropriate for climbing down into them. Remy made some petroglyphs on river rocks by drawing on them with another rock that he dipped in the water. Some day future archaeologists may discover these rocks and ask many questions about the intentions of the ancient artist. Little do they know they are just the ramblings of a very sleepy five year old.
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