Backpacking the Lost Creek Wilderness

The South Platte is a special place to me and Shelby. We've now made 7 trips to the region this year alone. Its elevation is only a bit higher than Denver's so it is a warm, dry area. It's an area that is often overlooked and relatively unappreciated. The ground is composed mostly of BB sized granite gravel with a thin layer of decomposed pine needles. The land is mostly covered with pine trees except for the 138,000 acre burn scar from the Hayman fire in 2002, roughly a third of the entire area of the South Platte region. All this being said, the region visible from paved roads isn't scenic by most Colorado standards. Once you start to venture onto the dirt roads and trails, you start to see some of the gems - Sheep Rock, Cheeseman Canyon, Turkey Rocks, and the Malay Archipelago to name a few. Looking to get lost for a weekend, Shelby and I stumbled upon what may be one of Colorado's best kept secrets, found in none other than the South Platte area- The Lost Creek Wilderness.

Looking at a terrain map, the Lost Creek Wilderness looks like an unimpressive set of small hills relative to some of the giant peaks found elsewhere in the state, so it is easy to skip across when scanning a map. Somehow Shelby had heard about backpacking loops in the area and a quick google search revealed some beautiful photos. The photos combined with the excellent forecast were enough to ignite a spark and we couldn't wait to explore the area.

We chose a loop that cherry-picked the most beautiful parts of the area. We would start by following Goose Creek, then Lost Creek, climbing up to McCurdy Park, over to Hankins Pass and back down to the car. I drew out the route on MapMyRide and it came out to 20-25 miles depending on how many switchbacks I missed while drawing the route.

We got started early on Saturday morning and began the hike north along Goose Creek. Most of the time we were in the trees, walking along a wide trail that we assumed must have been used as a road back in the mining days. 

Every once in a while the trees would clear and we would catch a glimpse of the granite domes and other rock formations that surrounded us on all sides.

Occasionally, we'd come across a giant boulder or a grove of aspens.

The miles ticked by quickly for the first half of the day. We had lots of energy and were excited to be in such a beautiful place, so the hiking was easy.

Much of the day passed in silence, both of us in our own thoughts, but with the occasional conversation. We would stop frequently, taking the time to look at the views. I would stop even more often to take pictures while Shelby continued and then I would slowly catch up. We stopped for a snack around noon and both of us realized that we brought less food than we normally do. Not a big deal, we just figured we'd be pretty hungry by the time we got to camp.

Eventually the trail went down to Lost Creek. We were low on water, so we took some time to filter water while we watched tiny trout feeding on food that drifted down to them. Just above this spot you could see the water come out of a dark cave. Lost Creek gets it's name from all the times it disappears underground and then reappears a ways downstream.

We weren't really sure where the trail lead from here. Following a less worn trail through some campsites, we eventually dead ended at the creek. It seemed really weird that the trail was less faint, so we weren't really sure that we came the right way. We ended up wading across the creek here and finding no trail on the other side. Darn. We came back across the creek to figure out where we went wrong and then continued along the trail barefoot, looking for a place we could sit down to put our shoes back on. Ouch! Ooh! Ouch! What the? I didn't realize it but we were walking through a field of thistles barefoot and I had about 5 thorns in my feet. Nice one. 

After taking the time to pull all the thorns out of our feet, we made it back to where we filtered water and found the other couple that had been hiking at about the same pace as us. They had a much better map than us and got us back on the trail we were supposed to be on. 

At this point, we started to realize that our map wasn't very good and we weren't exactly sure how far along the trail we were. We just kept hiking along the trail, figuring that we'd be able to figure out where we were eventually. Up a steep hill, down another hill, we came to two creek crossings, a landmark that allowed us to figure out where we were. By this point, we were both pretty exhausted. My mileage estimate seemed like it was way below what we had actually hiked due to switchbacks and we didn't bring enough food to keep our energy up. We sat down for a bit and shared my last clif bar before starting the long climb up to McCurdy Park. 

This part of the hike dragged on and on. Endless switch backs traversing up the face always brought us back to the creek that climbed up next to us, so it felt like we weren't making any progress. Eventually we finally made it to the last switchback and just hiked straight up the valley. Finally the trees opened up to a meadow and I knew that we were almost there. We made it to a nice camping spot with a firepit, sheltered by trees from the wind and right next to the stream. We cooked dinner, gathered wood and made a nice campfire before going to bed early after a long hard day.

We heard the wind blowing all night long. It rushed through the tips of the trees above us, but never really hit our tent thanks to the good camping spot. In the morning, we made quick work of the usual morning chores of pulling the food out of the tree it hung from, cooking breakfast, taking down the tent and packing our bags. Yesterday Shelby had only drank a kale smoothie for breakfast and it was a big reason why she ran out of energy so bad, so we both made sure we had plenty to eat for breakfast and started the hike feeling refreshed and energized, albeit quite sore.

The scenery today was less epic than yesterday, but we had lots of pleasant meadows to pass through between stints in the trees. We passed through the rest of McCurdy Park, passing a hidden tower called McCurdy Park tower with over 20 climbing routes up it. We'll have to come back and do some climbing in this wonderful area. At the end of McCurdy Park, we dipped down a bit and then took the cutoff towards Lake Park. This trail would be our only climb for the day and was enough to get the blood pumping at 1.5 miles long, but we were good on energy this time, so it went by relatively easily. The climb brought us to our high point for the weekend where we could scramble up a pile of boulders to a great lookout where we could see the whole wilderness area.

The rest of the hike was just a long gradual downhill all the way back to the car. The majority of the time was passed in silence, lost in our own thoughts, watching the landscape shift as we descended in elevation down to Lake Park, then to Hankins Pass.

The miles went on and on and we found ourselves looking at the map more often, ready to get off our feet and eat a tasty burrito in Deckers. We took frequent breaks along the way and eventually Shelby felt inspired to start wearing aspen leaves in her hair.

We were ready to be done and eventually I saw a distant ridge that signified that we were close to the end. Passing through a narrow corridor with rock walls on both sides, we came around the corner and saw horses making the final climb to the cars. We were done.

While the long hike in two days may have been a bit ambitious, we had a wonderful time in the Lost Creek Wilderness. It's truly a special place with few people and a feeling of wildness that is rare in the front range of Colorado. Next time we'll come prepared with more food, more time to explore, and climbing gear! We will be back, oh yes, we will be back.

Four Pass Loop

Likely the result of a Sunday evening daydreaming about my next adventure, I somehow stumbled upon a trip report on December 2, 2012 about the Four Pass Loop. I knew nothing about the hike's reputation. I just knew that the trip report had some pretty amazing pictures. It turns out this route is often ranked among America's best backpacking loops and it is known for excellent scenery of big mountains and wildflowers. If you've ever seen a picture of the maroon bells, chances are you are familiar with the view at the start of this hike.

The route starts at Maroon Lake and makes a loop around the Maroon Bells crossing four passes: West Maroon Pass, Frigid Air Pass, Trail Rider Pass, and Buckskin Pass. This makes for a 26 mile-10,000ft elevation gain hike.

Our route with miles marked in red circles and camping spots with yellow triangles. Hiked clockwise.

After an uncomfortable night sleeping in the parking lot in the back of a Subaru, we were ready to get going on Friday morning. The hike started out with a gradual elevation gain as we passed through the valley towards maroon pass.

The hiking was easy for several miles and we passed a few groups on the way. I was ready to give us the "Best Hikers of the Day" award until we made the long, painful slog up the last mile of the pass where we met a man who had already ran 20 miles of the loop that morning. We ended up seeing around 10 of these runners who do the loop in one day. Getting to the top of the pass was quite the challenge for me, but Shelby made it look easy. She's a backpacking machine.

 

After a short break at the pass, we made our way down the north side of the pass towards Frigid Air Pass. No more than 100 feet down the trail my knee started giving me issues. The same issues it gave me a couple months ago. My knee became a constant concern of mine, but I was able to manage by compensating with my trekking poles.

The wildflowers along the entire route were gorgeous.

The walk over to Frigid Air Pass was easy and pleasant with lots of low angle trail and pretty wildflowers. The final part of the pass was steep but short. At the top we got our first glimpse of Snowmass Mountain as well as a view of the back side of the Maroon Bells.

Fravert Basin and Snowmass Mountain from Frigid Air Pass

Maroon Bells from Frigid Air Pass

We started to see the same people throughout the day and we would end up seeing them throughout the whole trip. There was the 'Group of Four' who seemed to have an identical pace to us, the 'Descenders' who joked to us, "We're really good at going downhill," the 'Gang' who carried a boom-box and enjoyed making loud cuckoo calls, the 'Patriarchs,' our 'Buddies,' 'Speedy McGreedy,' and others. They all began to feel almost like family. The grand parents, the annoying little brothers, the cousin who seems nice but we rarely hear from her, etc.

The descent from Frigid Air Pass was the worst descent of the whole trip. My knee was really bothering me and we were at the tail end of a difficult 11 mile, 2 pass day. Eventually we found a nice campsite in Fravert Basin. We set up our camp and enjoyed basking in the sun and simply relaxing before dinner time.

The descent from Frigid Air

Dinner was satisfying and we spent the evening playing Mancala on a sleeping pad board with little twigs for the playing pieces. It worked quite well. We also have the option to play Scrabble, Connect-Four, and Tic-Tac-Toe on Shelby's sleeping pad.

In the morning we slept in a bit and then started the hike for the day towards Trail Rider Pass. We hiked through Fravert Basin for a few miles, passing a waterfall and an easy stream crossing.

Eventually the trail started traversing the slope on the north side of the basin and we began our long climb. The trail switched back several times on the way up and the trail was pretty steep for much of the climb.

Eventually the angle eased off and we made it to the upper basin below the pass. This was one of the most beautiful parts of the trip for us. There was a beautiful lake with wide open views in all directions. It was nice to take a break in this area before finishing the climb to the pass.

After a short break, we headed up the last bit of hill before the pass. We caught our first glimpse of Snowmass Lake from the pass and were quickly off down the hill since it started hailing on us. It wasn't too long before the hail went away and the clouds started to break, making for probably the best scenery of the trip.

Snowmass Peak from right above Snowmass Lake

 Snowmass Lake with double rainbow (part of the way!)

The descent from the pass was steep to start out with, then mellowed out for a while, then got steeper again as we approached the campground at Snowmass Lake. We set up our camp quickly and spent the rest of the evening hanging around the lake, reading, and eating.

 Snowmass Peak, Haggerman Peak, and Snowmass Mountain from the lake

We had planned for our trip to be 4 days - 3 for backpacking and 1 for hiking Snowmass Mountain, but due to the condition of my knee and a nasty cold that Shelby developed, we opted to hike back to the car the next day. This ended up being a good call since we were able to get some Niquil!

The last day of hiking was pleasant. We started out hiking through the woods a ways to Snowmass Creek and then started our way up towards Buckskin Pass. The climb started out with lots of trees and after gaining some significant elevation we made it to treeline where we found a pretty upper basin area. 

One more short break before the pass and we made the final climb to the top. It was definitely the easiest finish to a pass that we did on this trip. The trail is very low angle with long nice switchbacks. It wasn't too long until we made it to the top and had views of Pyramid Peak and the Maroon Bells.

Pyramid Peak on the right from Buckskin Pass

As it typically goes on a long hike, the last stretch feels like it is the longest. We made our way down the steep trail to Minnihana Gulch. The previous days had a long hike leading to the pass followed by a short descent to camp, but this day was the opposite, so we still had a ways to go.

I started to get a rhythm and figured out a good way to walk fast without hurting my knee, so I picked up the pace so that the end of our hike didn't drag on for too long. The trail brought us to the trees before too long and then it was a mostly forgettable hike to Crater Lake. Walking along the trail back to the car, some people ahead of us stopped us and told us there were a couple bull moose down in the valley. This made our trip feel complete. We had heard about the bears and moose in the area and hoped to see one or the other and we were rewarded with a great moose sighting and Shelby's first!

The last mile and a half dragged on, but we eventually made it to Maroon Lake. Our feet were tired and we were looking forward to a celebration beer in Aspen. But first we took a few minutes to wade in the frigid lake and enjoy the bliss of having spent a wonderful weekend together in the wilderness.

Pacific and Atlantic Peaks

Due to a slight shift in recreational interests as well as general business of life, I’m finally getting around to my first highish altitude hike of the year. Shelby rode in the Courage Classic fundraiser ride for Denver Children’s Hospital on Saturday, so I found myself in the mountains with nothing to do. I only had so much time since I wanted to get back to meet Shelby at the finish line, so that limited my options to hikes nearby the Copper area. Luckily there are all kinds of great hikes within 10 minutes! My route would start out at Mayflower Gulch, I would climb the 3rd class west ridge of Pacific Peak and then hike over to Atlantic Peak before coming back to my car along Atlantic’s more mellow west ridge.

The hike started out with a mile walk along a road that leads to the Boston Mine ruins. The standard way to do this hike is to go all the way to the end of the road and then head north to a gully between Atlantic and Mayflower Hill. But that added at least a half mile of backtracking, so I went off trail and took a shortcut across the gulch to get to the gully shown in orange above. My feet got soaked since it was boggy, but the shortcut worked pretty well. Eventually I found a faint trail that went up the gully towards the basin area where the scrambling would start.

Two men in their 50s/60s were hiking behind me and eventually caught up to me at the base of Pacific’s west ridge. They happened to be doing the same ridge as me so we talked about the route a bit and I let them go ahead of me before heading up.

Sitting at the base of the route I was reminded of how alive I feel when I am in the mountains with a big (to me) route ahead of me. The ridge looked menacing. It was steep, loose, and chaotic looking. It was going to be a challenge, but one that I was excited to figure out.

I put on my helmet and started hiking. Following the men 100 feet ahead of me I stayed to the edge of the gullies we went up or on top of a ridge crest to stay out of the way of rock fall. The route was quite loose for most of the way up. I was always looking for more solid sections that I could climb up favoring exposed ridges to crumbly scree gullies. Solid is relative of course.

Eventually we made it to the top and spent 15 minutes enjoying the summit. From here, it was a descent to the saddle between Pacific and Atlantic and then a class 2 hike up Atlantic.

Atlantic Peak from the summit of Pacific Peak

It was nice to not have to worry too much about loose rock, but the hike over to Atlantic wasn’t anything too special. I did start getting really tired part way up Atlantic though. I had to start my habit of walking 50 steps and taking a quick break before continuing. I made it to the top and the clouds were starting to form.

I munched down most of my remaining food and then started down the west ridge of Atlantic. The ridge was actually pretty cool going down. It was boulder hopping all the way down and the ridge started out narrow and widened as I went down. I would be a pretty enjoyable hike up.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very enjoyable hike down for me because I tweaked my knee at some point near the top. So I walked with a slight limp all the way down. I got quite tired on the way down so you can imagine my sheer joy when I found a perfect snow field that I could glissade down to save 200 feet of down hiking.

At this point I got back onto an actual trail, which was very nice. I decided I would head to the Boston Mine ruins since I figured the trail would be better in that direction than my short cut. Eventually the trail disappeared and I found myself bushwacking for a quarter mile through very thick willows anyway! Luckily I was rewarded with a wonderful view of the Boston Mine ruins with the treacherous Atlantic-Fletcher traverse in the background.

The hike finished off with a mile and a half walk down the road to my car. I was completely exhausted at this point and annoyed by my knee. But I was ecstatic to have spent a day alone in the mountains on a challenging route.