The parking lot / trailhead for the Bells (and Pyramid) is about 9.5 miles up the road, and you'll get excellent views of Pyramid Peak and then the Bells themselves as you draw closer. Once you get to the parking area, the one thing that you'll notice above all else is the Bells - not because of what they look like (everyone has seen these mountains, they're the most photographed in the country), but because they are HUGE. You're basically staring at a ~2,500' wall close by up the valley, and the first time you see it in person, it's just jaw-dropping.

Only a few hundred yards along the trail, I heard a movement off to my right,and swung my headlamp in the direction of the sound, only to see dozen of pale points of light staring back at me. After being thoroughly spooked for a few seconds, I realized that I was trekking next to a herd of deer, out for an early morning breakfast, and their eyes were reflecting the light from my headlamp. We regarded each other for a few seconds, and gradually turned away and continued on my way, leaving the dozens of deer to their morning buffet in the tall grasses.

The morning dawned slowy as I trekked beyond Maroon Lake and Crater Lake, and in the predawn darkness I could see headlamps from climbers behind me, hiking up from Maroon Lake, and lamps above me on the slopes of North Maroon peak, and a few climbing up to the south ridge on South Maroon Peak. Obviously, I wouldn't be the only person on South Maroon today. Just about 6am I reached the turnoff from the main West Maroon trail, leading steeply up to the south ridge of S. Maroon.

The climb to the south ridge was an arduous and tiring two and a half hours. The trail is very well defined, ascending almost 3000' in just less than a mile. As you approach the ridge, the trail gradually becomes rockier and indistinct, including a few small cliffs requiring an occasional Class III move. By the time you pass through 13,000', a series of cairns leads you up through the loose scree and talus to the ridge. If you haven't donned you helmet by this time, you should. The terrian is steep and loose, and it's not hard to inadvertently dislodge rocks onto parties below. Finally, at 13,300', the top of the ridgeline is reached, and the real fun starts!

From the top of the ridge, the rest of the route is instantly intimidating -- South Maroon Peak lies just over 3/4 mile to the north, and the terrain at first glance appears steep and treacherous. However, the route to the summit has been well-cairned in recent years, and it's actually not as hard as it appears. The route starts on the ridge crest and soon drops off the crest to the west (climber's left). A series of ledges and short, Class III gullies will keep you occupied for the next 0.5 miles. By this time of the year (mid-August), all the snow had melted out of the route, but many of these gullies will retain snow well into the summer, so be aware that you may have some steep snow-crossings to deal with. By and large, the route is much more stable than I was expected, having read for years about the rotten and loose rock of the Elks. Handholds and footholds tended to be pretty stable, although small piles of rubble would occasionally have to be brushed aside to get hold of firmer rock. At about 0.25 miles left, you'll enter a wide gully between the summit and Point 13,753. Climbing the gully never exceeds Class III, and you have a couple choices. The trail is evident on the right side of the gully, but it's over loose gravel, which can be tedious and exhausting to climb. The rock on the left side of the gully is somewhat more stable, and seemed to provide more reliable footing. The trickest piece of route-finding comes here, too. While it's not difficult to climb the gully to the ridgeline, the exit point is actually a few dozen yards below the ridgeline, on the left side. A cairned ledge system will put you back on route to finish the climb. From here, the cairned route traverses and climbs steeply (but still solid Class III) to the ridgeline, just a couple hundred yards from the summit. The final stretch is a wonderfully solid scramble with only moderate exposure to the summit!

I and number of other climbers (whom I'd caught up just short of the summit) hit the top right around 9:30, making for a 5.5 hour ascent from the parking lot. It was a calm morning, with several small storm systems starting to gather just to the west. The views from South Maroon are eye-popping...to the east, on the other side of the valley, lies the imposing Pyramid Peak. Snowmass and Capitol are prominent just to the west. Crater Lake and Maroon lake lie 4,000 feet almost directly below to the northeast, the trail easily visible. And, a mere 400 yards north, the pointy bulk of North Maroon peak. The ridge connecting north and south is easily tracible between the two peaks, and is obviously exposed and difficult. I was more than happy to not contemplate navigating the ridge. For me, South Maroon was enough of a goal today. Sweaty and tired, I plopped down on the small summit (probably room for a dozen or so) to chow down on a celebratory bagel. I marveled at being atop one of the famous Maroon Bells, and having a perspective that only a very, very small number of people who ever see the Bells will have.

After about a half-hour of eating, drinking, and swapping summits with some of the other climbers, it was time to head down. The storms were starting to converge and a few rumbles of thunder were enough to prod all of us on our way. The climb back to the ridgeline was tiring, and felt a lot longer than it probably was. The cairned trail made routefinding pretty straightforward, but the combination of downclimbing and traversing was still draining. After a little over an hour, we were all back to the ridge, facing a steep and (for the first few hundred feet, at least) loose downclimb. Pondering the valley floor 3000 feet below, I decided this was another good time for a break. Not just due to the fatigue, but I was part of a loose-knit group of 6 climbers at this point, and we knew we needed to spread out at this point to minimize the possibility of knocking rocks onto each other. All of us had various difficulties loosing our footing on the treacherous scree and talus. Finally, the trail re-established itself below the loose rocks and cliffs, and it became merely a steep slog back down to the West Maroon trail. Thunder rumbled through the valley beneath the peaks, but only a few drops of rain feel as my feet trudged along the West Maroon trail back towards Crater Lake.

Between Crater Lake and Maroon Lake, though, the skies opened up with a hailstorm. Quickly donning my rain jacket, a quickened my pace back to the trailhead, reaching pavement as the skies really opened up with a torrent of rain. It was 3:00pm, making for an 11 hour round-trip covering nine miles and almost 4,500 feet of elevation gain. I was extremely happy that I was faced with a 20-minute drive back to Snowmass, rather than a 4-hour trip back to Denver. Still, the satisfaction of having finally summited South Maroon after 2 aborted attempts went a long way towards erasing any fatigue.