 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Herd of bighorn sheep right on the road. Highway 34, about halfway up to Estes. | Yeah it's a "butt" shot, but, no zoom here! | As more cars stopped, they started moving up the hill. | "head-bangers" of the nature kind. | Lawn Lake is supposed to be "the most popular" hiking destination in RMNP. Never been there, and, it's November with no crowds. Time to go! | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| 6.3 miles each way and only ~2300 feet elevation gain, so not very steep. | Bob | At the first overlook of Roaring River. | Massive erosion on both hillsides from the 1982 dam break. River at bottom. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Small falls as the Roaring River comes down. The Lawn Lake trail follows the river for maybe 1/4 of the trail, very pretty. | ||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Snow visible in top left of picture. | Chipmunk! | First patch of snow on the trail, guessing we're at about 9,500 feet here. | Squirrel nest up in the tree. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Campgrounds, about halfway (3 miles) up the trail. On the right you can see the snow is covering about half the trail now. | Trail is getting icy now. | Another high overlook of Roaring River, gorgeous falls. | 99% of this trail is in the trees - no wind! | Away from the river now, steady gentle climb. | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Another overlook of Roaring River, the destruction from the dam break is stiil visible. | Snow on the trail is soft in the sun, not icy. | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Getting close to the base of Mummy Mountain, about a mile to Lawn Lake. | Amazing that there hasn't been much tree and bush re-growth since 1982. | Mummy mountain on the right. | Nearly up to the dam break. ?Fairchild mountain? on the right? | "The Saddle" between Hagues Peak on the right and Fairchild mountain on the left. Nearly up to Lawn Lake. | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| What are we taking Notice of? | Lawn Lake at 10,987 feet, looking west | Looking north-west. Windy here! | Cute pic of the horse! | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Llama? cool! | Sue at Lawn Lake. | South end of Lawn Lake. | Windy here, Sue gets out 2 more layers and a hat. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Mmmm honey-crisp apple at Lawn Lake. | Too windy, had to leave the gorgeous view behind and beat feet back into the trees, find an open sunny space and eat the rest of lunch there. | Missed this sign on the way up at the trail merge. | Trail merge - left to Cow Creek trailhead (wait that looks uphill!), right down to Lawn Lake trailhead where our car is. | Even in the sun, trail is mostly snow up here, maybe 3-5" deep. | ||
 |
 |
 |
||
| Trail is packed enough to not need snowshoes, but with a fresh dump of snow this would be tough with our summer hiking shoes and no gaiters! | Final look back at Mummy Mountain on the way down. | Final look down at Roaring River. | ||