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Looking roughly east, this is a two-frame panorama looking down the Fall River Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, from the viewing area at Rainbow Curve (3,294m) on the Trail Ridge Road which reaches a maximum altitude of 3,595m at Fall River Pass. Lower sections of the road can be seen on the right above.
The key to the image is the alluvial fan visible on the valley floor just right of centre. Trace back up the Roaring River valley that can be seen intermittently rising to the left above, and almost 10 km upstream you reach Lawn Lake at an elevation of 3,400m (not visible above).
Originally just over 6.6 hectares, it was expanded by farmers in 1903 who built a 6m-high earthen dam for irrigation purposes that expanded the lake to 19.4 hectares. This increased the capacity for water in the lake to approximately 257 million gallons. The water was usually released from the dam into the Big Thompson and Fall River at Estes Park using the Roaring River. The dam became neglected due to the remote area that it was in which is believed to have led to its eventual erosion.
The dam broke at 06:30 a.m. on 15 July 1982, releasing an estimated 228 million gallons of water. The channel of the river overflowed, carrying boulders and trees with it as it went down the side of the mountain 760m to what is now called Horseshoe Park in the Fall River valley floor, emptying the lake in about 30 minutes.
In the Fall River Valley the water continued downstream into the distance above. Two kilometres further downstream, the rush of water hit the 5m-high concrete Cascade Lake dam, which was used to power a hydroelectric plant and broke it. This added a further four million gallons to the flood. The rushing water continued into the lake behind the Olympia Dam in Estes Town (in the far distance in the upper right of the image above), some 13 km from Horseshoe Park. Here the dam was strong enough to absorb the onrushing water and held.
The scar of Roaring River valley is clear in the image, despite being taken 16 years after the flood. The large alluvial fan at Horseshoe Park includes broken trees, boulders bigger than cars, and silt. The debris created a shallow wetland and lake called Fan Lake which is partially visible above.
Three people were killed in the flood. One was camping along Roaring River valley and was swept away. Two others were lost at the Aspenglen camping site near Cascade Lake dam. Despite park rangers having given warning and cleared the campsite, they returned to retrieve items before the flood arrived and were caught by it. Some $30 million-worth of damage was done in Estes Park when downtown was inundated.
Scanned from negatives.
Some friends invited us up last minute to do some camping in Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend. I was itching to get out and photograph something, so the timing was perfect. I debated where to shoot this morning, but figured I'd hike back up to dream lake since the last attempt brought horrible lighting and weather. I've always wanted that amazing golden light on Hallet peak shot but never had the right conditions before today. Sure it's unoriginal, but with scenery like this how can you not shoot it?
Unfortunately, while I timed my hike just perfect for the light conditions, I was beat by two other photographers who were standing at the back of the lake so I couldn't get the view I was hoping for. I had to wade all the way to the left side of the lake and make the best of it in order to stay out of their shots. Ironically, I ran into my buddy Jared who I met last time at Dream Lake when we encountered the completely boring light that we both wanted to avoid. I guess we were both thinking the same thing this morning and couldn't let nature beat us. It was pretty funny that we both just happened to decide to make today our early morning trek back to Dream.
This was my first attempt at stitching multiple shots together to get more detail similar to a large format camera. I took several shots in a pano like sequence to get the most detail possible. Other than stitching the shots together, and some minor color /contrast correction, this is exactly how the scene looked this morning. I don't do HDR with any of my shots.
So I finally have the golden sunrise light of Hallet Peak under my belt. Next time maybe I'll be up for the longer hike into the lake of glass or black lake, but waking up in the cold at 3am gets a little rough!
On July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor. In addition to tons of lighter rocks, gavel and sand creating a 42-acre alluvial fan. A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River. Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.
It was a calm, sunny morning, July 15, 1982. I had just finished my last nature walk along the Bear Lake Road for the morning as a National Park Service Interpretive Technician (the govt. always likes to embellish job names: in all actuality, I was a "bug-stuffer", a Naturalist who led walks and evening campfire talks). I parked my govt. vehicle in the govt. garage, and got into my personal car to return home to await the evening when I would give the Naturalist program at the Aspenglen Campground (as it turned out, I got the night off.....). When I started my personal car, the radio was tuned to the local radio station and I was totally confused. The tramatic Big Thompson Flood was only 6 years prior, and it was on Aug. 1st. Was this radio program a review for some reason? I listened in total disbelief as I heard about people taking pictures from the tops of buildings in Estes Park.........the Roaring River had flooded as the Lawn Lake Dam in the back country above Horseshoe Park had broken. On a sunny, calm morning. No one could be thinking about a flood on a day like that.......and yet, people were missing in the Aspenglen Campground, and buildings were flooded in the tourist town of Estes Park. Campers along the Lawn Lake trail were missing as well! It was a catastrophic event that changed the face of Estes Park, from a honky-tonk tourist trap to a modern, managed tourist destination. I've always thought it would take a disaster to change the face of the town. I had been right. The entire face of Horsehoe Park in the National Park was changed as well, but on a natural scope. Trees and rocks came raining down......a new lake was dammed in the center of Horseshoe Park, and the power of water was graphically pointed out to the masses. Today there is a lovely walkway over the Roaring Fork, aspen and willows have replaced the big pines that hid the falls, and an interpretive opportunity has been taken. On this fall day, as I photographed the falls, I remembered that day so many years ago when I was just out of college, working as an "Interpretive Technician". Today it is quite beautiful, but thirty years ago it was raw and and pretty devastating. The dam, by the way, was old, and had been placed on Lawn Lake in 1903 by a consortium of farmers from the Loveland, CO area. There are many such water diversions in Rocky Mtn Natl Park, all constructed before the 1915 establishment of the Park. The State of Colorado is mandated to inspect dams within the State, and were deemed at blame for the failure of the earthen dam on Lawn Lake. Despite the catastrophe, It's a wonderful thing to be able to record beauty from destruction. Nature generally heals itself well.
1. Cat gets attention, 2. Austin looking the light from abandoned tunnel, 3. Austin posin' in Cucumber Falls, 4. Colorful litter as runners reaching finish line, 5. Kevin had Color Me GREEN on his face, 6. Say ahhhhh, 7. Group of hikers heading to Star Dune, 8. Kodak moment, 9. Cows on high altitude, 10. Painted Wall overlook, 11. Steamboat Strawberry Hot Springs, 12. Forest Canyon overlook, 13. Tonight's at Aspenglen, 14. 14 days of Colorado vacation, 15. Giant Rubber Duck invades Pittsburgh, 16. Marlena looking above the Long Lake, 17. Self portoflio of me, 18. Automobile Sitting by residence house, 19. Hurrah!, 20. Spot to shoot the photos, 21. Beach golden grasses, 22. Circle Trail through coast redwoods, Redwood National Park, 23. Fog in distance at beach, 24. Countless of gums, 25. Water fountain lit in morning
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On July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor. In addition to tons of lighter rocks, gavel and sand creating a 42-acre alluvial fan. A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River. Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.
Sediments from the flood dammed the Fall River, forming a shallow 17-acre lake. Unofficially called "Fan Lake" , it has provided new habitats for wildlife displaced by the Lawn Lake flood's debris.
By 1996, Fall River has already begun eroding the lakes temporary dam. Eventually, the lake will drain to create wetlands, meadows and forest.
We created the fun project during our vacation. We have to create the number by Mother Nature on each days on our vacation. The numbers are at each place we visited during our vacation.
Day 1 - Great Sand Dunes
Day 2 - Mesa Verde
Day 3 - Courthouse Mountain
Day 4 - Black Canyon of Gunnison - South Rim
Day 5 - Black Canyon of Gunnison - North Rim
Day 6 - Colorado NM
Day 7 - Dinosaur NM
Day 8 - Strawberry Park Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs
Day 9 - Alpine Tundra, Rocky Mountain
Day 10 - Aspenglen campground, Rocky Mountain
Day 11 - Andrews Glacier, Rocky Mountain
Day 12 - Boulder Brooke backcountry camp, Rocky Mountain
Day 13 - Garden of the Gods
Day 14 - Florissant Fossil Beds NM
n July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor creating a 42-acre alluvial fan. A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River. Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.
Part of the alluvial fan formed by the Lawn Lake floods.
On July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor. In addition to tons of lighter rocks, gavel and sand creating a 42-acre alluvial fan. A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River. Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.
11/12/2010
On July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor in addition to tons of lighter rocks, gravel and sand creating a 42-acre alluvial fan.
A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River.
Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.
This tree initially survived that flood. It is one of only a couple of trees that were left standing in the alluvial fan after the flood. You can see the newer trees, green in young growth, sprouting up and climbing to the sky at the bottom of the image. Those trees are only about 6 - 8 feet tall.
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This was taken at night with a very bright moon behind me. This is the view from our campsite at Aspenglen Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park.
There are five campgrounds in Rocky Mountain National Park and three which are open year-round; there is no water available at campgrounds from mid-September to mid-May. We camped for three days at the Moraine Park Campground with our grandchildren in July, 2004, and had a thoroughly delighful experience, although the evenings became very cool for late summer.
Moraine Park Campground is first-come, first-served from Labor Day to mid-May; it then becomes a reservation campground. Timber Creek Campground is first-come, first-served year-round, though its roads are not plowed in winter. Aspenglen Campground is open mid-May through late September and is first-come, first-served. Glacier Basin Campground, which has group camping is open June to Labor Day and is a reservation campground.
The Morain Park Campground had a parking pad and/or tent platform, picnic table and grill at each site. There are modern restrooms available, but no showers. An evening campfire program is held during Summer.
Alluvial Fan at Horseshoe Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. An alluvial fan is a term to describe the manner in which sediment is distributed from a stream, river, or in this case from a flood. Here it is also the name of the site, hence the proper noun.
The following description of the event that created Alluvial Fan is borrowed from the link provided below. There are a few nice aerial images that show the entire scene better (this is just a small part). Original article & aerial images
On July 15, 1982 at 5:30 a.m. Lawn Lake broke through the terminal moraine that had held since the end of the last ice age, thousands of years ago. The release of 29 million gallons of water swept trees and car-sized boulders four miles down to the valley floor. In addition to tons of lighter rocks, gavel and sand creating a 42-acre alluvial fan. A trash collector heard the waters crashing down the Roaring River and called park rangers, who evacuated campers at Aspenglen campgrounds. Two were lost to the flood at the campground and one along the Roaring River. Much of the flood's force was weakened while submerging the meadows of Horseshoe Park, but still had enough force to flood the town of Estes Park to a depth of six feet. Lake Estes to the east of town contained the floodwaters preventing further damage.
Photo taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (USA).