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Aspen
Revisited I
enjoyed Aspen so much that I returned for a week’s stay during the
summer of 2000. In this article, I'll discuss some of the things I did
during my visit and also provide some information on accessible
transportation and where I stayed. There
are numerous events that continue throughout the summer. Some that I
attended are: A
lecture at the Aspen Center for Physics titled
"A New View of the
Distant Universe with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory." Belinda
Wilkes, of the Chandra/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, gave the
lecture (in laymen terms). The hall was full and the lecture was easy to
understand and quite interesting. Each summer, they offer four such
lectures. The hall is accessible and admission
is free. A "Young Artists Concert" performed by students at the Aspen Music School. These Friday afternoon concerts are held at the Wheeler Opera House The location is accessible and admission is free. The school also offers Master Classes/Opera Scenes every Saturday morning. ($20). The Aspen Opera Theater Center also offers three operas each summer. The titles in 2000 were "The Rakes Progress" by Stravinsky. "Golem" by Casken and "IL Trittico" by Puccini. ($20 to $52). Information: Operas - 970-925-9042 or www.aspenmusicfestival.com. For the concerts: 970-920-5770 or www.wheeleroperahouse.com There
are many other events of interest including: Film
festival level film program 970-925-6882 Ballet
and dance 800-905-3315
The
Isis Theater, 406 E. Hopkins Ave. offers first-run movies. It is
accessible, but sight lines from wheelchairs are not the best, although
acceptable. If you can walk some, you can improve sight lines by moving
from your wheelchair to a regular seat And
much more. Check out The Aspen Times Weekly newspaper
at www.aspentimes.com
Aspen
is an outdoor type of place and offers several opportunities for
wheelchair and scooter users to enjoy the outdoors and the exceptional
scenery. By trial and error, I found four trails that are accessible.
Obtain an Aspen Picture Map available at hotels and the tourist center
for details. They are: Rio
Grande Trail East (see #71 on map). Enter from the foot of Mill St. on
the northeast side of street. The trail is paved and only about four or
five blocks long. It follows the Roaring Fork
River and has many scenic
views. There are also some very nice homes that can be viewed. The path
has a modest uphill grade at some points, so if you have a manual
wheelchair I suggest that you enter at the foot of Original
St., and
from there the path is almost all level or downgrade back to Mill St.
There is a steep two-block hill on Mill back to the center of town. The
Aspen Art Museum is located just off this trail near Mill
St. The art
displays are mostly on the second floor and are accessible from an
unattended entrance on Gibson Ave. If you go to the main first floor
entrance, they will arrange for the Gibson Ave. entrance to be opened.
Rio
Grande Trail West. This is a 36-mile trail that is paved for the first
three miles. Past that point it is not paved but seemed to be OK for
larger four-wheel scooters. It also follows the river but offers a more
remote feeling and has opportunities to see some of the smaller wild
life creatures. Enter off of Puppy Smith St. just off of
Mill St. Castle
Creek Trail. The map shows the start of the trail marked “Paved
Trail.” Enter from the south end of Seventh
St., a block or two south
of W. Hopkins. This is a short trail quite steep in most sections. It
crosses the Castle Creek Bridge and climbs up the lower foothill of
Aspen Mountain. At one level, there is a collection and display of old
farm equipment. While it is interesting, it is not organized, and it was not
manned when I was there. The trail does offer some good views and is
well worth visiting, but it is only suitable for motorized chairs and
scooters. I did OK with my Pride Sidekick (with fully charged
batteries). There
is a paved trail that starts at the northeast corner of Original St. and
Ute Ave. and proceeds east along Ute Ave. It crosses the river and
passes through some very scenic woodland and some upscale condos and
ends on Route 82. At that point, you may chose to return to downtown
using the bike lane along Rt. 82 or backtrack. There are some up grades
on the backtrack option. I
arrived in Aspen by United Airlines, which has a number of flights from
Denver each day. On my first visit. I had an ultra light scooter and was
able to travel from the airport to downtown in a standard taxi. I
now travel with a Pride Sidekick scooter, and, while it may be
disassembled, it is a pain. I researched the availability of an
accessible van service, but none are available there. A check with the
local public transit organization resulted in a solution. The
Roaring Fork Transit Agency (named after the river there) has some buses
with lifts. During the day, there were a number of airport to town buses
offering this service. While the route terminates at the town center,
they will drop you off at your in-town destination on request. The buses
are free. If you wish to use this service, you should phone them in
advance to check this all out for your time of arrival. The number is
970-925-8484. Not all buses have lifts, but with prior arrangements they
will make sure that the bus you intend to use has one. During the
summer, they also offer a tour bus to Maroon Bells Lake. (See previous
article) Be sure to make advance arrangements for a lift. My
arrival was on time and with no problems. The bus stop is about 200
yards or so from the terminal. Exit the terminal and proceed through the
parking lot to the bus stop on Highway 82. On the return, the normal
stop is across the highway, but the driver will, on request, take you to
the terminal building. I
stayed at the Prospector Lodge, a timeshare that I had exchanged for. It
is located right in the center of town, but its accessibility was poor.
An outdoor lift provides access to the first floor of units and the
lodge office. The units had an ample sized kitchen/living room and
dining space, but the bedroom and bath were very small and difficult for
a disabled person. I would not recommend it. There are some modern
hotels that I would expect to have accessible rooms. Two are the St.
Regis Aspen and the Little Nell. I am sure that there are others as
well. Summer
is a good time to visit Aspen, and there is plenty to do and see. I hope
that you will have an opportunity to enjoy it as I did. |