Bighorn Mountain from Lawn Lake Trailhead, 01/24/2004
It was a warm (for January) sunny morning as we started from the Lawn Lake Trailhead at 10:53. We immediately left the trail, going northeast. We continued in this direction up a steep wooded slope until reaching a plateau. From the plateau we began hiking northwest, up the first notch of the ridge. This route was characterized by sparse, very rocky forest, with occassional jumbles of boulders. We reached the top of the ridge at 11:56. From here we took pictures of the view of the top of Bighorn Mountain, with a dome rock knob just in front of it, and to the west: Chapin, Chiquita, Ypsilon, and Fairchild mountains. We turned right following the ridge for a short while, then headed straight up to the dome rock. Reaching the dome rock at 13:00, at an elevation of 10,400 feet, we decided to stop there and not go for the summit, considering the snow and time constraints. Instead of retracing our steps, we heading west, descending down the snowy wooded slope toward the Roaring River. We reached the Lawn Lake Trail at 14:02, and soon stopped for lunch at an overlook above the Roaring River. We made it back to the truck at around 15:00.