Earlier this year, my wife's cousin, Shannon, invited me to do some backpacking with her and some of her friends up in the beautiful back country mountains of Colorado.

When I lived in Texas, I used to dream about doing treks like this. And even though I've lived here in Colorado for the last 11 years, I still haven't made time for it.

But last week I did.

Shannon, Amy, and Justin and I headed out to Aspen, CO Wednesday night with the Four Pass Loop in our sights.

Located in the Maroon Bells / Snowmass Wilderness near Aspen, CO, the 26+ mile trail (beginning elevation 9,580') is routed over four mountain passes, each over 12,000 feet in elevation.

West Maroon Pass
Frigid Air Pass
Trail Rider Pass
Buckskin Pass

Here's a view of our route, and where we started

Below will give you an idea as to how steep the ascents and decents were

This hike was was rated as one of the "Best Hikes Ever" by Backpacker Magazine, and now I know why!

Oh my gosh this hike was gorgeous.

My pack weighed around 40+/- lbs. It wasn't bad. But I felt the results of wearing it at the end of the day.

My main struggle was breathing! The air is thin enough at the starting point. Then you just keep hiking UP with the added weight on your back minus the oxygen.

It was challenging. But once I learned to control the rhythm of my breathing, it was much more doable.

Shannon, Amy, and Justin were great to hike with. And in doing so, I now feel closer to all of them. Funny how just doing something as simples as going for a hike can bring people closer.

Day 1
The ascent to our first campsite

One of the many marmots we saw along our way

A quick group selfie in front of the most photographed mountain peaks in Colorado,

the Maroon Bells

And here we go!

Our first stop, Crater Lake

Justin Jumping in to help Amy across

Taking a few minutes to recharge

Our state flower, the Columbine

We had a porcupine wander through our camp this night. It was a big 'ol prickly thing that showed no fear. Why would it? Nobody wants to mess with them. We did get a little too close for it's comfort and it looked like it was preparing to take some counter action with its quills. We respected its need for space and left it alone. It was too dark to get a decent picture of it to share. But just think of a huge pin cushion with legs that makes strange squeaky sounds as it walks.

Day 2

The next morning, we packed up camp and headed out to tackle two passes in one day,

West Maroon Pass and Frigid Air Pass

Atop our first pass

West Maroon Pass
Elevation 12,500 feet

At the summit of the second pass

Frigid Air
Elevation 12,415 feet

And back down into another valley we go in search of our next campsite

We were very fortunate to find this campsite nestled off the trail next to a small waterfall.

We were feeling pretty sore by the time we got here and were really looking forward to relaxing and recharging for the next morning. Soon after we got our camp set up, a rolling thunderstorm came through. We took to our tents and it was the perfect background music for us to drift away to for a late afternoon nap.

We were some happy campers!

Day 3

We packed up our camp again and headed out down lower into the valley basin before we started our climb back out. It was like starting over from scratch.

Towards the end of this day it was decided that we all had one common want; a cheeseburger and fries. This became our motivation on our last couple of days.

On our way up to Trail Rider Pass, we stopped for a quick photo op

Going clockwise: Me, Shannon, Justin, and Amy

Looking down on Snowmass Lake from the top

Trail Rider Pass
Elevation 12,420 feet

Aside from the mass of mosquitos that were constantly attacking us, we found another great place to camp on the side of the mountain. We even had a white tailed deer stroll leisurely through our camp. We acknowledged each other and she casually strolled on.