Lost Creek WIlderness Loop with a full moon on Bison Peak

Good work Randy! This place is about to get even more saturated with Lost Creek trip reports. I hiked from just below Bison Pass to the unmaintained trail south of Lost Creek yesterday (on the loop through Refrigerator). What a freaking day. Thanks again for the tips!

Too funny; I was in LCW as well this Father's Day weekend. Not a dad, but this is the third year in a row my buddy and I take out his children backpacking (First time for his five year old) I play honorary uncle, porter AND lemon slushie maker. :)

We were in the Lost Park and Bison Peak area.

Lost Park was rather busy! Trip report to follow..

Tim, I'm looking forward to the TR. Especially since it sounds like exactly what I warned you not to do. :)

Paul, that pic looks an awful lot like the group we passed on Wigwam just past where Lost Creek turns south into the canyon on Sunday about 1. I talked to a guy who had 3 (or maybe 4) kids with him and they were on their way out from camping over there. One of the kids had a pack that looked as big as him.

Excellent pictures. Glad you got out and enjoyed. This has been a really good year for the early summer LCW trips. It also makes a good place for those October backpacks when the higher altitude areas already have a base of snow.

re: kids

Part of the reason why I go is so the two boys do not carry much weight. Josh and I play porter. The five year old and the eight year old have weight proportionate packs.

The five year old wanted to carry something, so he carried the potty trowel and his dad's camp shoes. :)

Josh can go lighter, though. But, that's another battle. ;)

Randy – I finally found your TR, 10 days too late for my own trip, but validation of what I figured out myself – this is an area that warrants multiple return trips to discover new areas.

Having picked Stephen up at the airport after 10pm on Wednesday night, we arrived at Lost Park TH a little before 2am. We'd spoken with a sheriff's deputy hanging out at Kenosha Pass, and he thought we were nuts driving so far off the beaten track at that time of night. Duly warned, we took the last 20 miles in cautiously, with the washboard road and absolute dark keeping us from making rapid progress. My eyes were on stalks, but Stephen's brain told him it was 4am Eastern and he was utterly bushed. Temps caught us by surprise, as they dropped significantly below the forecast. It was just 28F as we arrived at the TH. That validated our choice to leave the summer quilts at home and rely on the 20F sleeping bags. We grabbed a few hours' uncomfortable kip on a slope and hit the Brookside-McCurdy trail early next morning.

Sleep-deprived, the first day was slow going but the scenery more than made up for it. A recent calf injury re-emerged as I (stupidly) took zero drop shoes for the first time on a multi-day trip, and that slowed me down. Stephen was on Diamox but with zero acclimatization time, we wouldn't have been racing ahead even if I'd been on top form. The plateau above Bison Pass was glorious to behold, and we took a breather there until – ultimately unproductive – storm clouds blew in. We rolled in to McCurdy Park about 11 hours after leaving Lost Park TH, and set up camp for the night. Right as we sat down for dinner, the wind picked up and our mosquito problem vanished for the night. Extra guylines deployed, my shelter was quickly stabilized. Earplugs helped, but I don't think anything would have kept us awake after the previous night.

Next morning was a lazy start, and we finally started out toward Refrigerator Gulch after 9am. We were frequently astonished by the rock formations. It's unlike any other area I've visited in CO. We met another hiker right at the gulch who told us about a slot canyon and urged us to wade through waist-deep water to go check it out. Another time. We were on a mission to reach the Wigwam trail before dark. We hit the Goose Creek trail later than we expected, in part due to a 'false intersection' that had raised hopes an hour or so earlier. But the climb up to Wigwam was easier thanks to the cooler late afternoon temps. Just before dusk we found a campsite set back from the Beaver Ponds and thankfully away from the bushcraft & beer numpties we'd encountered as soon as we reached Wigwam. The mozzies were back, but a dinnertime downpour helped keep them at bay till after we hit the sack.

Day three was an easy 4.5 mile hike out to the TH, and being a Saturday morning the influx of weekenders made us feel like salmon swimming upstream. We passed a few parties that we'd encountered previously, who were doing the loop clockwise to our anticlockwise, so we stopped and compared notes with these 'old friends'. We arrived back at the TH just before noon, and before Stephen could even take his pack off he was press-ganged into taking a group photo of a dozen or more fresh-faced Osprey burdened Iowans. The group faff factor was already evident, as what should have taken 20 seconds took minutes. Stephen finally secured their attention and compliance with the announcement that he had an urgent appointment with the TH toilet and he wasn't about to let anyone get in his way. Several minutes later, and with a broad grin on his face, we started out on the 20 mile washboard road back to 285. A burger and a few beers later in Boulder, we agreed it had been an excellent trip. Next time we'll do it lighter and faster, so we can take in some of those side attractions.

Stuart, sounds like you and Stephen had a great time. The Wigwan trail does get pretty busy. Mainly because it is relatively flat and very easy to hike. Tends to be higher in the yahoo factor. Like the time I camped in that section years ago on Memorial Day weekend and there was someone shooting at 10 PM then again at 2 or 3 AM. Hopefully it was a lot better than that on your trip.

Stuart, that was a nice write-up, with good photos. Stephen sure pays his dues to be in the mountains here–the altitude, the time change, etc. But he gets to be with a great CO native!

Thanks Randy and Gary.

This was trip #4 in CO for Stephen, and it was the most successful. Each trip has taught us both quite a bit. I've been in CO so long now that my own acclimatization issues are dim and distant memories. We have another trip planned for later in the year, and then Stephen will return the favour by showing me the highlights of the UP next winter.

This trip to LCW was much busier than our last, when we were arguably the only bipeds in the area. That was the trip we saw mountain lion tracks in the snow on the Hankins Pass trail.

Thankfully we were far enough away from the yahoos on Wigwam not to be disturbed. We were a good 2 miles from the intersection with Goose Creek, and the site was set a good 150 yards from the trail. We'd been advised of moose sightings at the beaver ponds, so it was another reason to find a location off the beaten path. It was just as well we found it when we did, as all of the more obvious sites were taken, and the light was close to failing.