1958 Map of Isolation Peak

About this map

The Continental Divide serves as a massive natural partition through this 1958 survey, separating the high-altitude drainage of the Arapaho National Forest from the glaciated basins of Rocky Mountain National Park. Evidence of the region’s alpine hydrology is everywhere, from the concentrated cluster of the Hutcheson Lakes and Bluebird Lake in the east to the long, linear chain of Lake Verna and Spirit Lake along the East Inlet Trail in the west. Mountaineers and researchers can trace the physical spine of the Front Range through a series of formidable summits, including the namesake Isolation Peak, Ogalalla Peak, and the sharp profile of the Elk Tooth. A single Patrol Cabin near Thunder Lake provides a solitary mark of human infrastructure in a landscape otherwise defined by ice-carved cirques and perennial features like the Moomaw Glacier.