Roaring River dumped off its burden of boulders and pebbles in a few hours, starting on the morning of July 15, 1982. A dam burst at Lawn Lake, and the wall of water that resulted tore out trees and scattered stones, killing two campers and inundating the streets of Estes Park. The front end of a glacier ended here. It came all the way down from around 12,000-foot elevation, a river of ice 1,500 feet deep. Mountains thrust above forests.
Trees stop abruptly at the valleys where glaciers left their stony, inhospitable soil.
In general, there's grandeur all around. Drive up 2,000 more feet and gaze out at still more peaks above a valley so wild that no trail penetrates it. Most summits in sight exceed 12,000 feet. Longs Peak, the tallest in the park, tops out at 14,255. A good place to play Name That Mountain.