Aspen to Crested Butte Hike Trip

Drive time from downtown Denver to Aspen, CO is 3.5hrs Could extend the drive by another 4hrs if we chose to take 2 cars and avoid scheduling and paying for a shuttle from Crested Butte back to Aspen to pick up the other car at the start of the hike. If we decided to drive 2 cars, figure it would take a full tank of gas for each to get to and from Denver (roughly $100+ combined) divided by the 3 of us. Might still be less expensive than a shuttle just need to decide if spending another 4+ hours in a car is worth it. Helpful resourcess: https://tmbtent.com/guide-hiking-aspen-crested-butte/ https://aspenchamber.org/blog/aspen-crested-butte-hike-guide https://www.aspensnowmass.com/discover/experiences/guides/hike-of-a-lifetime-aspen-to-crested-butte

Trying to find an Aspen or near Aspen accommodation and struggling to find one for a reasonable price. There's a hotel just outside of downtown, that I believe I stayed at back in October of 2020, but it's showing close to $1k for 1 night on July 1st to July 2nd. There's St Moritz Lodge in Aspen, which looks to be a hostel, but they have a 3night minimum. https://www.stmoritzlodge.com/

The Aspen Highlands Ski Area is located down the road back towards Aspen, and overnight parking on the lower levels of the garage is free if you get there before 8am and make sure you’re back at Maroon Bells the next day by 5:00pm to pick up your car.

The bus costs $16 per person (return trips are free) and the first bus departs from Aspen Highlands at 8:05. The bus then runs both directions every 15-20 minutes until 5:00pm. Reservations will be required again to visit Maroon Bells by personal vehicle or shuttle - https://www.rfta.com/routes/maroon-bells/ Unable to book reservation for July until April 1st - https://aspenchamber.org/plan-trip/trip-highlights/maroon-bells/reservations HOW TO TRAVEL TO ASPEN HIGHLANDS BY BUS TO CATCH THE MAROON BELLS SHUTTLE https://www.rfta.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022_bus-to-aspen-highlands.pdf

Aspen to Crested Butte - 10.45 Miles Round-Trip The West Maroon Creek Trail joins the West Maroon Pass Trail on a 10.45 mile thru-hike from Aspen to Crested Butte. This feature-filled route is highlighted by Maroon Lake, Crater Lake, West Maroon Pass and one of the finest wildflower displays in Colorado. https://protrails.com/trail/802/aspen-snowmass-aspen-to-crested-butte#:~:text=Aspen%20to%20Crested%20Butte%20-%2010.45%20Miles%20Round-Trip,finest%20wildflower%20displays%20in%20Colorado.

2-star hotel A European style lodge in the National Historic District of Crested Butte 1 Queen & 1 Double Bed, Non Smoking

There is a room with 2 twin beds available for $238, as well as a a room with 1 queen bed for $238. Can't squeeze 3 to either of those rooms, but could split the cost for the 2 rooms 3 ways if we wanted. Maybe the person that drives gets the queen bed?

Apparently Dolly’s and Alpine both offer shuttles between Aspen and Crested Butte, although they are not cheap (upwards of $300). However, if you split this across a big group of hikers, it wouldn’t be too bad.