Maroon Bells with avalanche damage

[hockeyron]

We recently returned from our first ever Colorado trip and of course Maroon Bells was on our bucket list ..

I had been keeping track on the road conditions and the opening had been delayed due to multiple avalanches and luckily it open just a couple days before we left ..
Several large avalanches completedly leveled several sections of trees on the way in and you can see the damage even reached the lake as trees, stumps and general debris from these slides were in the lake ... the photo does'nt due justice as the stream leading out of the lake was completely barricaded with debris ... a bit bummed on that but the snow on the mountains was fantastic.

Nikon z6 w/24-70 f4

ron

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[Terri French]

It's still beautiful, even with the debris. On my wish list to go there someday!!

 

[Binnur]

Beautiful and impressive!

 

[menbrial]

Lot of snow this past winter ...Lots of HUGE avalanches in the back country , some trails and passes normally open mid may wont open this summer ( fore example Schofield Pass to Paradise divide are still under more than 6 feet of snow ….

 

[JRP]

I was at the Maroon Bells yesterday and saw the hundreds of trees in the lake from the winter avalanche. I am afraid the trees will obstruct flow out of the lake and ultimately completely damn it up. The small tributary just to the east of the main Maroon Creek which has always had water in it the many times I have been there has already stopped flowing. Water has to have somewhere to go and it could flood the meadow and then the parking lot, etc, etc. The NPS has apparently said they will let nature takes it course. If that is the case why did they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear the avalanched trees off Maroon Creek Rd?

 

[menbrial]

I was at the Maroon Bells yesterday and saw the hundreds of trees in the lake from the winter avalanche. I am afraid the trees will obstruct flow out of the lake and ultimately completely damn it up. The small tributary just to the east of the main Maroon Creek which has always had water in it the many times I have been there has already stopped flowing. Water has to have somewhere to go and it could flood the meadow and then the parking lot, etc, etc. The NPS has apparently said they will let nature takes it course. If that is the case why did they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear the avalanched trees off Maroon Creek Rd?

For money

 

[Palouse]

I was at the Maroon Bells yesterday and saw the hundreds of trees in the lake from the winter avalanche. I am afraid the trees will obstruct flow out of the lake and ultimately completely damn it up. The small tributary just to the east of the main Maroon Creek which has always had water in it the many times I have been there has already stopped flowing. Water has to have somewhere to go and it could flood the meadow and then the parking lot, etc, etc. The NPS has apparently said they will let nature takes it course. If that is the case why did they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear the avalanched trees off Maroon Creek Rd?

The Bells are managed by the USFS (US Forest Service) as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, not by NPS. Part of the dilemma they face is the incredible popularity of the area; upward of 350,000 visitors a year.