Hiking The Four Pass Loop from Crested Butte to Aspen, Colorado

Nothing could have kept me from completing the infamous Four Pass Loop in The Maroon Bells Wilderness in western Colorado. This loop has been high on my bucket list of Colorado hikes, so when my girlfriend invited me, I couldn’t turn down the invitation.

Like I said, nothing could have stopped me from completing this hike. Not John being unable to join, not my pack weighing entirely too much, and not even my mental game getting me down and nearly causing me to quit. More on that later. This hike was extremely important to me, and I am so proud to have completed it.

Watch my entire hour-long documentation of our remarkable trip in my YouTube video below:

​The Four Pass Loop is a 26-mile roundtrip hike that entails almost 8,000 feet of elevation gain, passes two lakes, three “14’ers”, and is one of the most scenic places in the entire state of Colorado.

​We completed the loop the first weekend of August 2021, and it took us four days and three nights to make it all the way around.

The only group photo we have. Taken at Crater Lake.

Before we started the hike, we did a lot of preparing. Fortunately, my girlfriend planned out our entire route and the logistics of the hike itself which left me only having to pack my own gear and food.

My initial photo of my gear. It ended up being more than this, but not all of this pictured. Click to read more about my packing process!

To read about my entire packing process including my pack, first aide kit, and homemade dehydrated meals on my Camping Gear blog page here!

​We decided to start our hike from Crested Butte instead of the more traditional route from Aspen, because coming from Maroon Lake near Aspen requires a parking permit or a shuttle ride up to the trailhead. 

We really didn’t want to do either, so we decided to add a few extra miles and start form The West Maroon Trailhead outside of Crested Butte.
​

Trail of the Four Pass Loop from AspenTrailFinders.com

There were a few other trails we could have started from including trails from Snowmass and Marble, but they were many more miles long than the route we chose. Starting in Crested Butte only added three miles each way or 6 miles total.

Checkout this super awesome topographic trail map video I found on Aspen Trail Finders! This is not the route we followed. Instead we started at The West Maroon Trail and went clockwise, I still felt it was cool enough to share though.

Once my backpack was fully packed, I hit the road to meet everyone at the trailhead. It was over a five hour drive from Denver to the West Maroon Trailhead. Everyone arrived late at night, slept in our cars, and woke up early to eat a good breakfast and start the trail as soon as we could.

Morning coffee at West Maroon Pass trailhead.

Car camping set up at West Maroon Trailhead.

Day One: West Maroon TH over Frigid Air Pass
​(Miles 0 - 7.5)

The first part of the hike was stunning. The wildflowers were in full bloom, and we were surrounded by fields of purple and yellow as we started our ascent up the valley. It was surreal, while it lasted, for the first three miles.

Flowers are Fleabane's, Larkspurs, and Artists Paintbrushes.

I believe these are loostrife flowers.

Early along the start of the West Maroon Pass Trail.

Eventually, we connected with the actual Four Pass Loop Trail, here at The North Fork Trail.

We turned LEFT!

​Beforehand, we had made the decision to work the loop clockwise. This meant that we would take a left toward Frigid Air Pass when we hit the T-junction. Once we turned onto The Four Pass Loop Trail, we didn’t leave it again until Sunday.

We could tell things would be a bit different from here on out. The trail became more rocky, and the color of the rocks changed to a deep red. Everything was different than the West Maroon trail we had been on earlier. We could see miles ahead to where we needed to go, but it was gradual, so it wasn’t too daunting. ​

Approaching Frigid Air Pass.

Frigid Air Pass:

The base of Frigid Air Pass.

Frigid Air Pass wasn’t the most difficult, but none of the four passes would be easy. I didn’t know this yet. At this point, my friends had gotten quite a far distance ahead of me. I could still see them, but they were pretty much at the top of the pass while I was taking a break and just about ready to start from the bottom.

They were much faster hikers than me, and my pack was much heavier than theirs and way too heavy. Read about the mistakes I made in packing my backpack for this trip in my “Backpacking Gear 2021” blog post here.

Selfie on my GoPro from Frigid Air Pass.

The view coming over Frigid Air Pass would be one of my favorites. I had never seen The Maroon Bells (Maroon and North Maroon Peaks) before. When I crested the pass, I was welcomed by the most grand view of Maroon Peak in all its glory, and by my friends who were patiently waiting on me.

We didn’t stay at the top long, because we could look down on where we needed to go and see that we still had four miles left to cover. 

Columbines in front of Maroon Peak.

Hanging out at the top of Frigid Air Pass.

Selfie with Maroon Peak!

We made our way down Frigid Air Pass and followed along The North Fork Crystal River until we found camp. We down our gear at a spot where the grass had already been worn, just above the river and near a beautiful waterfall. 

​We had plenty of time before the sun went down to cook dinner, set up our tents, and sit around the campfire for a little while!

If you would like to read about the dehydrated meals I created for each night, read my “Dehydrated Recipes” post here!

Campsite #1!

Cooking alongside the creek.

My dehydrated Pasta Primavera. Click for the recipe!

Day Two: Trailrider Pass to Snowmass Lake
(Miles 7.5 -15)

We woke up nice and rested, cooked breakfast, and broke down camp before hitting the trail for day two.

​We got a bit of a later start than anticipated, and were ready to go at 9 a.m. Our second day on the trail would be all-around wonderful. The trail was fairly gradual at the start, and we had plenty of time to prepare ourselves for the steepness of the second pass.

Amanita Muscaria mushrooms.

Indian Pipes (not a mushroom)

Porcini Mushrooms.

Trailrider Pass was nearly 2,000 feet of straight-up elevation gain in under two miles. It was not easy. Since our bodies were sore, we stopped a few times to take off our packs and fuel up, and the slow approach made the pass quite manageable. ​

Trailrider Pass:

Just like the day before, my friends got way ahead of me hiking up the trail. They, again, were waiting for me at the top of the pass. This time, we could see down onto Snowmass Lake when we hiked over the pass, and it was remarkable.

​I couldn’t believe how different the view was from this pass compared to the last. As beautiful as the view was, I didn’t sit there to enjoy it long. I knew we would continue to have the view for the entire hike down the mountain’s face, so we quickly started hiking again. 

The top of Trailrider Pass.

One side of Trailrider Pass looking down towards Frigid Air.

The other side of Trailrider Pass looking at Snowmass Lake.

As we walked closer to Snowmass Lake, the water became bluer and bluer, and its turquoise color was almost hypnotizing. We stopped to take lots of pictures and checked our maps while we were at the top part of the lake.

Snowmass Lake!

Where the trip took a turn...

Up until this point, I had been hiking with my girlfriend and her boyfriend. We had one more girlfriend who was planning to come up from the Snowmass Trailhead and meet us at Snowmass Lake that night. We arrived at the lake a few hours before the time we set with our friend. The couple wanted to leave a note and tell our friend that we continued on the trail, but I made the decision to wait at the lake.

The turn off the trail toward Snowmass Lake - also where I separated from my friends for the night.

Snowmass Peak from Snowmass Lake.

I walked down to Snowmass Lake right as the sun was starting to set. I probably had about 20 or 30 minutes before the sun went behind the mountains. It gave me enough time to cook dinner, filter water, and find a campsite.

Snowmass Lake requires camping in designated areas which made finding a place to camp a bit difficult. Luckily, a nice group made room for me and my friend who had not yet arrived.

It was starting to get dark, so I decided to get my tent setup. While in the process, my girlfriend walked by! I flagged her down, and we ate dinner, shared pictures, and pretty quickly went to bed.

Our campsite in the designated campground.

Where I cooked dinner next to Snowmass Lake.

Day Three: Buckskin Pass to Crater Lake
(Miles 15 - 24)

Our alarms went off at 5:00 a.m. sharp, and we were instantly up and moving. We wanted to meet up with the couple camping one and a half miles down the trail before they took off, so we were hiking by 6:30. ​

​We hit the trail without any breakfast to rush to our friends, and this lead to a not-so-great morning. 

Starting off the morning of day 3!

When we met up with our friends at their camp, we cooked some oatmeal, but it was a little too late.

Me pointing to where we needed to go up over Buckskin Pass.

The first portion of our day was a climb over Buckskin Pass. This was another 2,000 foot climb in less than two miles. It was incredibly difficult. This part of the trail was the most difficult for me. I struggled very much. I cannot deny that I wanted to quit.

I lost my mental stronghold...

Hiking is 99% mental, and that morning, I was off my game big time. I knew that at the bottom of this pass, at Crater Lake, there was a shuttle I could take and quit the trail. Instead, I sucked it up, took a deep breath, and changed my outlook as soon as I realized my negative mindset. 

​I made it over the pass and felt great by the time I reached the top. It felt like I could keep hiking the rest of the day, so I did not give up. I did not quit, and I kept pushing to Crater Lake after a nice, long stop.

The top of Buckskin Pass.

So happy to be at the top of this pass.

​My one girlfriend, who I had met at Snowmass Lake the night before, hiked out and took the shuttle. That was always her plan. She only joined for the one night, because she lives in the area and can do the rest of the trail any other time. 

​We said goodbye, and the couple and I kept going around the lake. Although I was feeling great, this turned out to be another rough portion of our trip.

The last time we were a group of 4 - taken at Crater Lake.

We took a wrong turn...

We took our only wrong turn, and it cost us a lot of energy. We didn’t realize that we needed to cross West Maroon Creek and instead, walked up a very steep hill on the wrong side of the water.

​When we made it back down, we regrouped and established a goal that we would try to reach to make camp. My friends went on ahead at their much faster pace, and I planned to meet them there.

After Crater Lake there is a creek crossing. DO NOT miss this!

The trail was much more difficult than I anticipated, and it took me longer than I had imagined to find my friends. The sun started to set behind the mountains, and I started to panic. This was, by far, the least fun part of the trip and the trail. I was walking through short trees and bushes making it hard to see far in front of me.


When I got to the point on the map where I was supposed to meet my friends, nearly an hour after I had last seen them, I started calling out their names, and they came running. They had just found camp and were coming down the trail to help me. We embraced and quickly unloaded my gear at camp. We ate, hung our bear bags, and went to bed before 8:00 p.m.

You can hear more about how I panic walked for two-miles in my YouTube video around the 37-minute mark 

Day Four: West Maroon Pass to Crested Butte
(Miles 24-30)

Breakfast Trail Tacos for the last morning. All smiles for a full belly! Click to read my recipe.

This last morning, we woke up with a completely different attitude than we’d had on any other day, because we only had a few miles to go. Plus, we knew what the second half of the trail held in store for us. We packed up, quickly made it up the valley in which we were camping, and approached West Maroon Pass.

The last pass was no easier than any of the others. It took a good number of stops to get my sore body to carry the heavy pack at this point, but it was extremely rewarding when I made it to the top. West Maroon Pass was the last difficult portion of the trail. From here on out, it was mostly down hill.

All smiles from the top of West Maroon Pass!

When I made it to the junction of West Maroon Pass and The Four Pass Loop Trail, I cried a little bit. This was the last marker on the trail, and when I turned onto the Maroon Pass Trail, I had completed The Four Pass Loop.

The same sign we had passed earlier in the trip. It was almost over!

My picture back at the trailhead sign. Never been prouder.

​It was an emotional journey. The last few miles back to my car felt like a blur. I couldn’t stop thinking about how humbled I felt to be trekking by myself and rounding out the last few miles of a 30 mile hike.

​When I arrived back at the trailhead, I cried some more.

​Most were tears of happiness and disbelief, but I was also sad, because my friends had driven into town.

I was so unbelievably proud of all the things I had pushed my body through over the last four days. They were difficult days, but they taught me a lot. Mostly, they stoked my excitement to get out and do it all over again. Maybe next time, I’ll take a lighter pack. ;)

The last official selfie from the trail. What a bittersweet moment.

See more from my other backpacking trips:

Backpacking Five Days in Yellowstone's Backcountry
Camping inside The Great Sand Dunes National Park
My First Solo Backpacking Trip in Medicine Bow, Wyoming