24 in Lost Creek Wilderness

[Dean F.]

I just did a 24 in Lost Creek Wilderness, in Colorado. Unfortunately work commitments meant that I couldn't be on the trail until noon yesterday, and I couldn't stay out all day today, either.

The weather was downright Britannic- kinda of dreary, overcast, mist, a constant drizzle. The hike actually had quite a Pacific Northwest kinda vibe to it- I wouldn't have been shocked to round a corner and find a stand of pines prudishly clothed in Old Man's Beard.

I hiked from Twin Eagle to McCurdy Park, ate dinner, then hiked back up the park a bit to a nice campsite I had spotted earlier. (I wanted to just finish the loop, but I had a time hack, as I mentioned.) I'm not sure what the temperature dropped to in the night but the low was forecast to be 37F in Florissant, a little south and a couple of thousand feet lower than where I had camped. It misted, it rained. Sometime in the night it hailed. Needless to say I may have been asking a bit much of the TT Moment- it suffered rather catastrophic condensation.

The conditions were, in short… PERFECT.

It was just dreary enough to keep the amateurs at home but for me it was, at worst, "manageable" with my usual summer kit.

On the hike out it hailed again, then turned into wet slushy snow. I did have one of the more scenic outdoor poops of my life, from a boulder field in a pass overlooking a valley with boulders and rock spires. The mist had parted just enough to give me the view, but still shrouded the peaks and passes.

Sorry, no pictures. I had left my camera at work.

[Chris Gray]

My wife, father in-law and I were in the area probably the same day as you. We hiked in on the 12th and hiked back out on the 13th. We were just north of you, fishing the Lost Creek.

As you said, the conditions were excellent– it kept many people at home and we had the whole trail and creek to ourselves. Sunday morning however, probably around 8:30/9am we encountered quite heavy hail, whicn turned into a light snow fall.

We woke up between 7am and 7:30 and our little thermastat read 40 degrees. I would imagine that it dropped a few degrees in the night.

[david nitsch]

I just got back from a 4 day loop through Lost Creek Wilderness. My daughter and I were (pick one: saddened/enraged/disgusted) that the USFS still allows cattle grazing in Lost Park and East Lost Park- IN the Wilderness. How many ranchers (probably few) pay how much (probably next to nothing) to allow their stupid cows to p**p and pillage such a beautiful place, while the Forest Disservice signs are all about LNT?

If you love Lost Creek like I do, call the South Park Ranger District of the Pike National Forest at 719-836-2031 and SCREAM bloody murder. This is not what Congress had in mind in 1980- perhaps 1880.

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