The thing about Aspen in summer is that most people have it wrong.

They picture it in January: ski boots, mountain crowds, the après-ski version. They miss the quieter one — wildflowers on the Maroon Bells, a music festival tent lit up against a darkening peak, a small city you can actually walk end to end before your coffee gets cold.

I have an apartment here. I've been coming long enough to know which table to ask for, which trail to start on, and exactly what my skin is going to require within 24 hours of landing. Altitude at nearly 8,000 feet does not care about your routine back home.

America just turned 250. There are places in this country that remind you it's worth celebrating — not in a flag-waving way, but in the quieter way: that a small Victorian mining town in the Colorado Rockies somehow became one of the most beautiful places in the world. Aspen is one of those places.

Here's where I go, what I do, and what I pack.

Dream Stay: The Little Nell

The Little Nell sits at the base of Aspen Mountain. Ski-in, ski-out in winter. In summer, the Ajax Bar terrace becomes the best seat in town — a place where the mountain is right there, the drinks are right, and no one is in a particular hurry.

Aspen's only Relais & Châteaux property. One of a small number of ski-in/ski-out five-star hotels in North America. The rooms are done in warm mountain luxury — the actual version, not the rustic-but-not-really imitation. Service that anticipates rather than reacts.

In summer: book a room with a mountain view, spend at least one afternoon on the terrace, and don't rush checkout.

Eat

Clark's Oyster Bar — the cult favorite

There is something specifically right about eating excellent oysters at 8,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains, and Clark's is the reason that sentence makes complete sense. An Aspen institution. The atmosphere is unpretentious in a way that the rest of town doesn't always manage. Patio seating, proper oysters, people-watching that earns its reputation.

Order the oysters. Order them again before you decide you're done.

Bosq — the experience

One Michelin star. One of a handful in the state of Colorado. Chef Barclay Dodge runs a tasting menu that changes with the season — which means in July you're eating precisely what the Roaring Fork Valley has at this moment. Not a list of options. A commitment.

The room is intimate. The pace is unhurried. This is dinner as the main event. Book before you book your flight.

Coffee First

Felix Roasting Co.

Every morning in Aspen starts the same way: Ute Trailhead first, Felix after. Serious specialty coffee — the kind where sourcing and technique are both taken seriously. We did our Eye Mask Prisms launch activation here earlier this year, and the fit made sense immediately: a place that takes the morning ritual seriously. Order with their house-made almond milk and house-made vanilla. It sounds like a minor detail. It isn't. This is the coffee you'll think about when you're home.

Do

The Ute Trail

I always start here. The Ute Trail gets you above the town quickly — the switchbacks are real, the views arrive fast, and you're back down in time for coffee and a shower before the day opens up. Not technical. Steep enough to matter. Worth doing first thing before the mountain heats up.

E-bike the valley

Aspen is made for this. The streets are flat, the mountain roads wind out into views that would require serious fitness to reach on a regular bike, and there is something specifically satisfying about e-biking toward the Maroon Bells on a clear summer morning. Rental shops in town. Go early.

The Aspen Music Festival

Running all summer through August, the Festival brings world-class classical and chamber music into a tent pavilion with the Roaring Fork mountains as the backdrop. Worth an evening regardless of whether classical music is your usual thing. The setting does something to the music and to the people listening. One of those experiences that is genuinely harder to explain than to simply attend.

Shop

Hyman Avenue has the names you already know. Walk it once, then find the smaller ones.

Wyld Blue — Western-influenced fashion, sharply edited. The kind of store where everything is slightly more than you planned to spend and you buy it anyway.

Nuages — A proper European boutique, somehow here. Curated in the way that takes genuine taste to pull off. Worth the detour.

Columbine — the hidden gem

Most people walk past it. Don't. A crystal and gemstone shop that's been in Aspen for decades, with pieces sourced from places that don't supply the average boutique. This is the one I always leave with something from. If you're going to bring one thing home from Aspen, let it be from Columbine.

What I Pack: The Altitude Edit

Nearly 8,000 feet above sea level means three things your skin deals with that it doesn't deal with at home: air that holds significantly less moisture, UV exposure that's roughly 25% more intense than at sea level, and a shift in cellular oxygen levels that accelerates oxidative stress. This isn't a minor inconvenience. It's a real change, and you'll feel it within a day of landing if you ignore it.

I've stopped waiting until I feel the dryness. By then you're already behind. Layer from the moment you arrive.

Hyaluronic Serum — The foundational layer. Dry mountain air pulls moisture from your skin continuously. This keeps everything else working.

No. 1 Serum — THD Vitamin C, the most stable and penetrating form available. Higher altitude means stronger UV and more free radical activity. The antioxidant work matters more here, not less. This is the one I never leave behind.

Up All Night Eye Cream — Aspen nights run late. The altitude makes sleep more restless than usual. The under-eye area shows it first. This handles it.

One more thing: drink water before you feel thirsty. Altitude affects hydration at every level — skin included. The routine helps. It doesn't replace the basics.

Aspen in summer is the version of this town that rewards people who actually show up. I hope you do.

XX HOPE