This was my fifth hike in the recent couple of weeks. I decided it was time for a little lighter day. With that in mind, as well as, wanting to scout our what Dowdy Lake had to offer, and do a little fishing, I decided Lady Moon Trail would be a good choice. It was!
The trail starts by working toward Lady Moon Meadow.
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| Lady Moon Trailhead |
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| Lady Moon Meadow |
As you can see at this time of year Lady Moon is lush with tall grass and a small boggy stream running down the middle. It got a little sloppy around the stream, but the trail crossed in a couple of places so I didn't get too muddy. I continued along the meadow for about a mile then turned left and headed up the ridge to intercept the Granite Ridge set of trails.
There are multiple trail spurs off the Granite Ridge Trail, but my goal was to get the the Granite Ridge Trailhead. This trail ran along the top of the ridge along a rolling mix of Lodgepole pine, Ponderosa Pine, and Aspens. There was not much ground vegetation and the trail was actually the remnants of an old road.
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| Granite Ridge Trail |
I passed several spurs, one called MollyMoon and the trail to Molly Lake, but I continued on to the Granite Ridge Trailhead. I stopped for lunch a few hundred yards from the trailhead, then turned and started to head back to the truck.
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| Granite Ridge trailhead |
I decided to take the short side tour to Molly Lake and was rewarded by a nice small lake that is not much bigger than a pond.
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| Molly Lake |
I returned to the main trail then continued on to the MollyMoon and Granite Ridge Junction. The MollyMoon trail was not on my map, but after consulting it, my GPS, and the terrain I deduced that the Molly Moon Trail must be an alternate and connect the Molly Lake/Granite Ridge Trail with the Lady Moon Trail somewhere on the western edge of Lady Moon Meadow. I was feeling ok and a bit adventurous so, I struck out on MollyMoon. I had deduced correctly and the trail ran along another ridgeline that eventually dumped into Lady Moon Meadow. Along the way I probably found the best Kodak moments of the trip.
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| Early on the MollyMoon Trail |
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| Pravin Lake from the Molly Moon Trail |
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| Lady Moon Meadow from the Molly Moon Trail |
I soon was back to the truck and headed out to Dowdy Lake to see what next week's camping site would look like and try my luck at a little fishing in West Lake. All in all a great day, but man I'm pooped.
Overall Track Statistics for track Red Feather Lakes - Lady Moon Loop
Length 10.316 miles
Start Elevation - 8113.39 feet
Maximum Elevation - 8596.62 feet
Minimum Elevation - 8101.28 feet
Date of Hike - Jul 29, 2015
Start Time - 09:51 AM
End Time - 01:46 PM
Total Duration - 3:54 hours:min
Total Ascent - 1218.04 feet
Total Descent - 1197.28 feet
Net Ascent - 20.77 feet
Maximum Grade - 10.54%
Average Speed - 2.63 mph
Maximum Ascent over Mile - 364.44 feet
Maximum Speed over Mile - 3.22 mph
Maximum Gain over Mile (%) - 6.50%
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