Red Feather Lakes - Elkhorn Creek

Today's hike was back up to Red Feather.  I chose a Trailhead that was further south than my usual 'haunts', called Elkhorn Creek.  According to the Forest Service there are several trails that start at the Elkhorn Creek Trailhead, but none of them appear on any of the maps I typically use.  These trails connect to the trails that start at the Lady Moon and Molly Lake Trailheads, so I knew I could get a long hike in.

I started out on the Lady Moon trail and soon encountered a water crossing at Elkhorn Creek.

Elkhorn Creek

After finding a ford on the creek I continued on up the Lady Moon trail to a large social trail intersection, where I took the right trail that led up the mountain.  It turns out that Lady Moon was the left trail, but I wasn't worried since I knew I would wind up on the Granite Ridge trail eventually.

Typical terrain around Red Feather

The hike up the unnamed trail to Granite ridge was a bit of a grind, but some of the rock outcroppings were cool.

Cool Rocks

I soon found the intersection with Granite Ridge and continued east to the end of the trail.  I had been here before.

Pond at EOT

The EOT

I returned to Lady Moon via the Granite Ridge Trail and on to the Lady Moon Trailhead for my first break.  After break, I crossed the highway and picked up the Mount Margaret Trail.  This was about the fourth or fifth time I had traveled this trail.  I ate lunch at a small lake near Mount Margaret and then turned for the return.

I hiked up to the junction of Lady Moon and Granite Ridge, then headed back down towards the Disappointment Falls trail.  It was a fairly steep descent, but the terrain was interesting and the views to the southwest were stunning.

View of the area around Comanche Peak

Granite everywhere

Valley that Lady Moon follows - looking N

Valley that Lady Moon follows - looking SW

I made the Disappointment Falls junction and turned for the mile-ish hike to the Falls.  With a name like Disappointment, I wasn't expecting much.  They were a nice falls and an old cabin was an interesting diversion.

Disappointment Falls

Cabin Wall

Old Cabin

  I then headed back to the truck.  Probably the highlight of the hike was the Beaver Dam I encountered on the way back to the truck.

Beaver Dam

No Beaver Sighting though

All in all is was a great day to be out and about.

Overall Track Statistics for Red Feather - Elkhorn Creek,   1917 data points

 Length 14.622 miles  :  Garmin Length 15.136 miles

 Start Elevation - 7809.84 feet

 Maximum Elevation - 8492.36 feet

 Minimum Elevation - 7767.03 feet

 Date of Hike - Apr 10, 2017

 Start Time - 08:51 AM

 End Time - 03:12 PM

 Total Duration -     6:20 hours:min

 Total Ascent - 2251.54 feet

 Total Descent - 2276.08 feet

 Net Ascent - -24.54 feet

 Maximum Grade - 12.59%

 Average Speed -  2.30 mph :  Garmin Average Speed  2.38 mph

 Maximum Ascent over Mile - 442.78 feet

 Maximum Speed over Mile -  3.38 mph

 Maximum Gain over Mile (%) -  7.97%