Table Lake, Colorado

Table Lake is a man-made lake located in the Sawatch Mountains in Colorado. The lake is nearly two hundred feet in some areas with the water very frigid, which makes it very dangerous to divers. The lake is roughly thirty miles to the west of Leadville. The lake is home to rainbow trout. Lodgepole Pines grew in the region. The lake is located in what is Colorado's mining country. Charles Smith kept a cabin quarter of a mile from the lake, as well as Lee Rafferty and his wife, Maxine Rafferty.

In 1945, the lake was created and a lumber mill was submerged when a small river was dammed by the State. In 1954, the USAF transport, Vixen 03 landed on an iced-over Table Lake, but sank when the ice broke. In 1966, a fisherman started to fish the lake. During the many years since, he lost many lures over the site of the Vixen 03. In 1985, Charles Smith discovered the plane's wreckage and enlisted the help of Lee Rafferty to recover it. Rafferty murdered Smith over the wreckage and covered it up as an accident.

In 1988, Dirk Pitt, Albert Giordino, and Colonel Abraham Steiger tolled the lake to find the aircraft, and discovered the craft. Pitt scuba dived to the wreck and discovered the remains of Charles Smith.