Roosevelt National Forest: Lady Moon Trail to Disappointment Falls

I've been itching to get out of the house and go on a real adventure. Today, we made the drive down into Colorado and over to Red Feather Lakes for a hike in the snow. Our journey would take us along the Lady Moon Trail and then over to Disappointment Falls. 

We arrived at the trailhead, ate some snacks and donned our gear, 

and then hit the trail.

The trail started out fairly easy, heading into a meadow almost immediately.

We followed the snow-packed trail through a mix of intermittent wooded areas and open fields.

Eventually, our route left a wide, old logging road and headed into the woods on a narrow single track path.

As we made our way out of the woods, views opened up to the high mountains to the west.

We continued to follow the narrow trail, gradually descending further and further down into a valley.

At the junction with the Disappointment Falls spur, we made a right turn and soon found ourselves following a creek, currently it is largely frozen. Interesting rock formations lined the valley.

Soon enough we were at the frozen falls. Honestly, at this time of the year, the falls were a bit of a disappointment. 

Luckily the beautiful winter scenery made up for the lack of flowing water. We ate a snack at a snow free area in the trees, and then started to retrace our steps back to the car.

We stopped to admire the ruins of a log barn.

Then, we continued on our way, 

ascending up to the wooded ridge. At one point Sierra's boot was giving her a hot spot, so we took a break and Noelle applied a bandage to prevent a blister.

The walk back seemed to take forever. Luckily, there was still plenty of great scenery to distract us. 

We made it back to the car by 2:45 and drove into Fort Collins for a late lunch/early dinner at Coopersmith's.