The North Fork Trail runs 4.05 miles through a broad, glacially carved valley to Fryingpan Pass (12,438') in the Mount Massive Wilderness. The pass spans a rocky saddle on the Continental Divide between the Fryingpan River and North Fork of Lake Creek. Views down both are exceptional, and an unmaintained but intuitive route continues into the Fryingpan drainage to join a maintained trail at Fryingpan Lakes.

Near-vertical rock walls of glacial troughs (U-shaped valleys) are among the most distinctive features of a glaciated landscape

The trail climbs nearly 500' in .5 miles up the valley headwall to a large tarn (12,378') just below the pass

The Continental Divide separates the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness (west) from the Mount Massive Wilderness (east)

Paintbrush is in the genus 'Castilleja', named for 18th century Spanish botanist Domingo Castillejo

Glaciers and running water sculpt the land in different ways; streams tend to cut winding curves and V-shaped valleys, while glaciers carve nearly straight valleys with broader U-shapes

Blue Lake (11,435'), accessible off the North Fork Trail, was part of the area's last private in-holding until being transferred to the National Forest Service in 2012

The Mount Massive Wilderness was designated in 1980 and covers over 30,000 acres

This large tarn sits just below Deer Mountain (13,761') on the east side of the Continental Divide

The trail follows the east branch of the North Fork up to the pass

An unmaintained but intuitively followed route drops 1406' from Fryingpan Pass to the Fryingpan Lakes

Clockwise circulation of heat from the Midwest and Southeast brings moisture up to Southwest Colorado that produces short, violent storm patterns in the summer

Scaling the headwall may require crampons and other technical equipment when covered in snow

The Rockies have been shaped by the cyclical growth, recession and reconstitution of glaciers over many millennia

Mountains of the Sawatch Range have two distinctive characteristics: great height and a huge, sloping bulk that makes them relatively easy to climb