![\"Fairchild](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-from-Trail.jpg\")
<\/a>Fairchild and Crystal Lake from Trail<\/p><\/div>\n
The hike from the Lawn Lake Trailhead<\/a> to Fairchild is about 9 miles each way \u2013 18 miles round trip. The vertical gain is about 5000 vertical feet. In order to have a good chance of a successful activation, you should:<\/p>\n 1) Choose a long summer day with dry weather predicted The Lawn Lake Trail is the standard approach to Fairchild. This trail climbs up the Fall River to Lawn Lake. In 1982 the old Lawn Lake Dam failed, and the Fall River flooded. Most of Lawn Lake roared down the steep valley, causing a fatal flood and massive damage for miles downstream. Lawn Lake is smaller than before the flood, but it\u2019s a beautiful place, so it\u2019s a popular hiking and backpacking destination.<\/p>\n The trail starts at 8550 feet, and it\u2019s over 6 miles to Lawn Lake at 11,000 feet. The trail was damaged in the September 2013 floods – it\u2019s rocky in spots – but it\u2019s still a fast route up into the Mummy Range. The trail continues past Lawn Lake on the east side, and then it efficiently ascends north of Crystal Lake to The Saddle at 12,400 feet. From The Saddle the last mile is an alpine hike of about 1100 vertical feet up the broad northeast ridge of Fairchild, across tundra and progressively larger rocks, to the top. Early in the summer there may be snow along the route, especially above timberline; you may see bighorn sheep.<\/p>\n Crystal Lake below Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n The Fairchild summit is almost flat \u2013 the Activation Zone is huge. There is a rock shelter at the top, and it\u2019s a good spot to set up a pole and activate, unless there are other visitors. This mountain doesn\u2019t get a lot of traffic, but there are usually a few climbers on summer days.<\/p>\n KX0R First Activation of Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n KX0R on Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n I started my hike just before 7:00 AM MDT. I was on the summit at 11:10. That was about as fast as I could go. I stayed over an hour, setting up, doing the activation, and dealing with issues. In retrospect I should have started earlier.<\/p>\n Large alpine rodents called marmots<\/a> live on Fairchild. These aggressive animals can be a problem for a SOTA activator! Not long after I was on the air, a large marmot tried to steal my Dacron antenna line and pulled my Black Widow pole down! My radio gear went flying across the rocks! I was lucky to get back on the air and continue the activation.<\/p>\n Ypsilon Peak and Weather from Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n The weather was nice when I started on the air, but 20 minutes into the run, a large cumulus cloud moved in from the west, and I heard hissing in the headphones. Within a minute I could hear no callers, as the corona discharge increased. There was no lightning nearby, but I had to get off the air and leave. I still managed to work 22 ops on 20M CW.<\/p>\n Fortunately the dark cloud passed quickly, and the long exposed trip down the ridge to the Saddle went OK, with no close lightning and only a little rain. Another storm came through as I hiked out near Lawn Lake, and there was a lot of lightning up high. It rained gently for a long time \u2013 not bad weather overall. That was a typical summer day in the Mummy Range.<\/p>\n Hagues Peak from Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n Crystal Lake below Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n View NW from Fairchild – Clark Peak in Distance<\/p><\/div>\n Fairchild offers a Classic SOTA Summit with a long, spectacular hike, fine views, and a high-altitude wilderness experience \u2013 as well as a great activation with special challenges.<\/p>\n George Carey Fuller Alpine Flowers below Fairchild<\/p><\/div>\n \n W0C\/FR-010 (Fairchild Mountain) 4107 m \/ 13502 ft First Activation Aug 04, 2013 by KX0R Fairchild Mountain is one of the 4000+M Peaks in the Mummy Range in the northeastern region of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a relatively … Continue reading
\n2) Start early \u2013 perhaps be on the trail before dawn
\n3) Travel fast and light, but be prepared for alpine conditions
\n4) Have the required ability and conditioning
\n5) You\u2019ll need most of your day \u2013 maybe more – for this classic SOTA peak<\/p>\n![\"Crystal](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-Crystal-Lake.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"KX0R](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-KX0R-wide.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"KX0R](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-KX0R.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Ypsilon](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-Ypsilon.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Hagues](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-Hagues.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>![\"View](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-NW.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nKX0R<\/p>\n![\"Alpine](\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fairchild-Flowers.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n![\"ATTENTION\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/dd\/Achtung.svg\/877px-Achtung.svg.png\")
\n\n!! WARNING !! There are old<\/b> mountaineers, and \nbold<\/b> mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. \nHiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!\n<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"