Life On Wall Street: Lost Creek Wilderness

For our anniversary, Natalie and I decided to take a long weekend and go backpacking. We originally planned to return to the Holy Cross wilderness, but with the forecast being a bit cold and needing to return on monday we changed plans and headed south a bit to the Lost Creek Wilderness.

One of Natalie's co-workers, who worked as the backcountry ranger for this area, suggested a ~27 mile loop from the Lost Park trailhead.

http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/433758

I took thursday and friday off and spent thursday hauling lumber for an upcoming shed project.

Friday morning we packed up the dogs and headed to the trailhead. This was Lady Bugs first backpacking trip with us and likely her first time backpacking/camping.

She got a pack of her own for kibble and treats.

We stopped for lunch in Lost Park before heading up and over a pass.

After 9-10 miles and getting rained on for a bit we found a decent camp site and got set up.

We had to haul water a ways, but the view from camp was worth it.

Lady Bug was tired and muddy, but loved every minute of it.

Morning came with clear skis and sun to get us dried out before we hit the trail for the day.

We started the day by descending from out campsite into Refrigerator gulch.

The rock formations in this area are intriguing and creek through it gives the area it's name.

Lost Creek is so named because it dives under and through various rocky ridges that bridge the valley. It makes for an interesting map as the river shows up as discontinuous.

After one final creek crossing we slogged up a few miles of steep switchbacks into a beautiful valley. With one more steep climb before our intended camp we found a great site amongst the aspens and decided to call it a day.

Notice the very tired Lady Bug in the background.

Sunday we hiked across the ridge near a couple of the larger peaks in the area. There was a large burn scar from quite some time ago which left the area open and resulted in some spectacular views.