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Take a walk on the wild — and quiet — side

Discover the beauty of winter in the mountains

Lu Snyder
Special to The Aspen Times
Snowshoeing with ACES is a fun winter time activity for the whole family.
Tamara Susa/Aspen Center for Environmental Studies/Courtesy photo

Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in this year’s edition of the Winter in Aspen/Snowmass magazine.

Imagine standing in a snow-covered forest so serene that you can hear the soft murmur of a nearby creek splashing over ice-covered rocks and a slight rustle as freshly fallen snowdrops from the tips of tree branches. You briefly envision life in the mountains 100 years ago — both the beauty and severity. Perhaps a sudden movement catches your eye, and you turn in time to glimpse a fox disappearing into the trees.

This is the winter experience the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) wants to share with you. With three locations in the Roaring Fork Valley, the local nonprofit environmental education center offers various programming for all ages to create a community of environmental stewards. Included among its winter programs are guided snowshoe tours, both within the ski resort and high among the peaks in Castle Creek Valley. No skill or experience is necessary; just come with a willingness to explore the area’s history, geography, and ecology, and discover the breadth of nature.



View the mountain from a different perspective

Maybe skiing and snowboarding are not your thing, or perhaps you simply want a change of pace and a new perspective. Every winter, ACES partners with Aspen Snowmass to lead daily snowshoe tours — no skill, experience, or equipment required — on Aspen and Snowmass mountains.

On these two-hour tours, walk through snow-covered forests with ACES naturalists and learn about the local wildlife and their habitat, mountain ecology, and the area’s history.




Aspen Mountain tours meet at the Silver Queen gondola, and Snowmass tours meet at the Elk Camp gondola. From mid-December through mid-April, tours run daily at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., and snowshoes and lift passes are included in the cost.

Getting into nature is the best way to decompress after a hectic holiday season.
Courtesy of Aspen Center for Environmental Studies

Rise above it all

Escape the hustle and bustle of town and unplug from the incessant dings of emails and texts in the mountains high above Aspen, where you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time as you stand beneath dramatic jagged peaks. No chairlifts are humming here. Simply silence.

About 10 miles south of Aspen, the high valley of Castle Creek sits almost 2,000 feet above town. It’s like stepping into a postcard.

More than 35 kilometers of groomed cross-country ski trails wind through this sub-alpine valley for people to explore on their own, or through guided tours.

ACES’ guided snowshoe tours depart from Ashcroft Ski Touring’s King Cabin and meander through aspen groves, dark stands of fir, and serene snow-covered meadows en route to the Pine Creek Cookhouse.

Along the way, you’ll learn about the area’s mining history, with a stop at Ashcroft. A few buildings remain standing from Ashcroft’s mining boom, but you can imagine this ghost town in its heyday, home to more than 3,000 people, a newspaper, a school, numerous hotels, and even more saloons. After miners abandoned the town, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division trained there. It’s a powerful reminder of Colorado’s boom-and-bust cycles, the grandeur of nature, and our fleeting place within it.

You’ll also look for animal tracks as ACES naturalists talk about about high alpine ecology and local wildlife. Keep your eyes peeled, and you might spot a moose — a master of camouflage.

Pine Creek Cookhouse offers farm-to-table inspired lunches and dinners in its chic mountain lodge. Enjoy a warming meal with family and friends at the cookhouse before returning with your group to King’s Cabin. You’ll be amazed how time slows down when you unplug and immerse yourself in nature.

ACES Catto Center at Toklat, which has been closed for renovations the past few years and is scheduled to reopen to the public this winter, has been compared to Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden Pond” for providing a window into the wilderness experience.

ACES Ashcroft Snowshoe Tours run daily at 10 a.m., are approximately 3.5 miles round-trip, and last 4 ½ hours, including lunch.

aspennature.org

More info…

In winter, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies offers guided snowshoe tours, as well as other programming, including kids activities and camps, birding tours and classes, an annual Christmas bird count (in partnership with Audubon), naturalist nights, and a local adventure and travel speaker series. aspennature.org or 970-925-5756

Dark skies

Diamonds aren’t the only things that sparkle in Aspen. Look up at the night sky, and you may be surprised by the number of stars you can see. Aspen is among a number of Colorado municipalities working to minimize light pollution. Move farther away from Aspen — say up Castle Creek Valley or above Basalt toward Ruedi Reservoir — and the stars become even more vivid.