Backpacking

Matt, Laurel, and I backpacked in the Lost Creek Wilderness this weekend. We started at the Twin Eagles trailhead near Jefferson, CO and headed north for 7 miles towards McCurdy Park Tower. After some 2,500 ft elevation gain we set up camp by the creek.

The three of us brought our rock shoes in case there were any bouldering opportunities. Once camp was set up Saturday afternoon we decided to hit the McCurdy Park Tower. On the hike in we hadn't seen any trail going to the tower and nothing was marked on our topo, so we just started walking up the hill through the woods towards the giant.

This rock isn't climbed very often due to the 6-mile approach -- not your typical roadside crag with cleaned rock and nice landings. The bouldering seemed a bit sketch so we instead decided to scramble up the scree to the left of the tower. It was steep and some of the rocks were loose so it took some time. The views from above were fantastic. Once in the shade the rock was very cold -- and so were we -- so we turned around to get back to camp before sunset.

Back at camp we put on another layer and started dinner. We sat by the fire for a while before turning in. The night was very cold and I don't think any of us slept very well. In the morning we discovered ice and frost on the tents (and everything else of course). [Mental note: camping at nearly 11,000 ft in September is cold. Don't repeat.]


We had breakfast, packed up camp, and hit the trail a little after 8am. The hike back had a fast pace to keep us warm; by 11am we were back on the bridge by the trailhead. Very successful first backpacking trip for us -- many thanks to Ryan for suggesting this area!

Summary: 0 bears, 0 people (except a few by the trailhead), 0 ^oC, 1 small snake, 2 blue grouse, 1 million grasshoppers, lots of horse poo, and 2 wolverine poos (maybe). See all pics. See route on Google Maps.