Forest Lakes in the Lightning

This is the start of our Hike in Rollinsville. The Moffat Tunnel is a railroad and water tunnel that cuts through the ContinentalDivide in north-central Colorado.  The East Portal trailhead begins to the right of trailhead and is signed. This is a moderate hike of 7.8 miles +1,700 elevation.

The hike begins as a beautiful meadow with towering evergreens.

You will cross many streams over boards and makeshift rocks. Some of the water was running swiftly.

After about 2.5 mile you come to a split. For Forest lakes you turn right. To the left is another trail.

The views are beautiful as you continue to climb and reach the treeline.

There were many wildflowers in mid July when we hiked.

Here is one of the more challenging crossings over the cascade. See the board to cross.

Here is the lower Forest Lake. There were people fishing here. I really enjoyed this hike as it was beautiful with all the flowers, streams, forest and mountain views. Look for a bridge to the left of the lake to continue on the trail.

After the lower lake you come to a boulder field to cross the trail. It was kind of hard to find the way across. You can see the peaks in the distance. This is where I began to hear the thunder. I turned around at this point. Within a half hour it was lightning , pouring rain and hailing. The temp dropped 25 degrees and my fingers were numb from holding my poles. I began to run down the trail and found my hiking boots were NOT waterproof. The trails became little rivers of water I tried to avoid . The stream crossings were fast due to all the water coming down. There were two poor dogs and their owners caught in the storm as well and coaxed them down the mountain. My raincoat was waterproof but I had forgotten to bring my pack cover so all my layers were wet.  LESSON learned: Do not start a hike at 10:30 with a storm predicted that day.