Lake Agnes
Today was our last day camping in State Forest State Park. Our park pass was good until noon, so we packed up camp and headed to Lake Agnes which is overlooked by the Crag mountains. It was still a little hazy from the smoke from the previous day, but it wasn't windy anymore so some of the smoke was able to settle without more getting blown in. The views weren't clear, but they were clear enough for us to enjoy some of the views. What we both really wanted photos of, however, were the Nokhu Crags which are some very jagged and pointed mountain peaks. The Nokhu Crags were on the East side of the lake, which since we were hiking in the morning was incredibly washed out from the sun. We both ended up being okay with that because the Nokhu Crags weren't very photogenic from Lake Agnes anyway. The mountainside leading up to them was just a massive rock pile. Instead, from the Eastside of the lake looking West were more magnificent views of some of the other peaks in the Never Summer Mountain Range like Mount Richthofen.
After reading more about this area after the hike, I wish I would have gotten some better photos of the whole area because of the different types of rock. The Nokhu Crags are Shale versus the Granit from Mount Richthofen, and the division between the two was very clear in the color of the rocks. You can see this a little bit in the panorama photo, which I hiked 250ft straight up the rock pile to get. The Never Summer Mountain Range is a fairly "young" mountain range that was formed 28 million years ago from volcanic eruptions from the seafloor, as opposed to the rest of the Front Range mountains that are over 1 billion years old.
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![Mt Mahler](/photos/2021/july/album282019img_9875.jpg)
Mt Mahler
Pretty early in the hike we came across a meadow with a great view of Mt Mahler. This was the first day of clear blue skies.
![Waterfall Off the Trail](/photos/2021/july/album282019img_9920.jpg)
Waterfall Off the Trail
We went off the trail a little bit to see this gorge with some pretty fast-flowing water.
![Lake Agnes](/photos/2021/july/album282019img_9926_panorama1.jpg)
Lake Agnes
We got to the lake and were greeted with breathtaking views. The water wasn't ]perfectly still, but it was very clear and provided for a great reflection of the mountains. The mountain directly in the center of this photo is Mount Mahler and Mount Richthofen to the left.
![Lots of Columbines](/photos/2021/july/album282019img_9970.jpg)
Lots of Columbines
I have never seen a Columbine plant with this many flowers growing out of it before. Usually you see one or two together, not a giant group.
![From up High](/photos/2021/july/album282021img_0002_panorama1.jpg)
From up High
I hiked straight up 250ft rock scramble to get this photo. I wanted to get a picture of the island to show that it was actually an island. You can see in this photo the white granite on the left from Mount Richthofen and the orange shale from the Crags and the clear line between these two mountains.
![Monarch](/photos/2021/july/album282021img_0100.jpg)
Monarch
Wild butterflies are always so hard to take photos of because they have no patience. They land on a flower for about a half-second and then fly away. This Monarch stayed on the flower for a little longer and allowed me to get a good photo of it.
![Lake Alcove](/photos/2021/july/album282021img_0118.jpg)
Lake Alcove
There was a small still alcove just behind the island on the Northwest side of the lake. The clarity and color of the lake was incredible.