A shrine to President Trump was recently created on Aspen Mountain. It features a bumper sticker, license an photo on one aspen tree and another photo on an adjacent tree.

David Wood/courtesy photo |

A small and, dare we say humble, shrine to President Donald Trump has materialized on Aspen Mountain.

The shrine features a bumper sticker with Trump’s signature phrase, “Make America Great Again,” a long vertical picture of the Donald looking a bit smug and a spoof New York State driver’s license that lists Trump’s eyes as “calculating” rather than a color.

Trump could rightfully claim the last laugh because the license was set to expire on July 18, 2016, the opening day of the Republican National Convention. He obviously beat all expectations.

The sticker, license and photo were stapled to one aspen tree while a single photo of Trump looking presidential with an image of the White House in the background is stapled to an adjacent tree.

David Wood, an avid skier who tracks the shrines of the Aspen and Snowmass ski areas as a hobby, stumbled upon the Trump shrine by accident this week. He was looking for a different shrine but misinterpreted directions and spotted the Donald.

As is his custom, Wood didn’t want to disclose exactly where the shrine is located. Half of the fun is searching and finding them. In this case, he suspects that people might search and destroy the shrine.

In Pitkin County, there were 7,239 votes cast for Hillary Clinton and 2,522 for Trump in the November election, a margin of 69.6 to 24.2 percent.

Wood would only offer that the Trump shrine was on the upper part of Aspen Mountain “in a place you would never ski — at least I wouldn’t.”

He estimated the artifacts have been there less than a month because the laminate is in good shape and the staples haven’t rusted. There were no tracks leading to the site, so he doubted they have been placed since the last substantial snowfall a week or so ago.

Shrines regularly come and go, Wood noted. A New England Patriots shrine in the trees at Snowmass had faded but was replenished this winter during their run to the Super Bowl title. Wood hasn’t been there recently, but he said he suspects that Denver Broncos loyalists or Patriot haters have probably dismantled that shrine.

“I would be surprised if they are still there,” he said of the Patriots’ memorabilia.

Other shrines endure for ages, such as the Elvis, Marilyn and Jerry Garcia shrines on Aspen Mountain.

For the lowdown on the shrines, visit Wood’s website at http://www.aspensnowmassshrines.com.

He so passionate he’s even written a book, available locally and on the website, called “Sanctuaries in the Snow — The Shrines and Memorials of Aspen/Snowmass.”

scondon@aspentimes.com