Lost Creek Wilderness, CO – Goose Creek, McCurdy Park, Hankins Pass Loop

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Michael R

The Lost Creek Wilderness covers about 120K acres of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest northwest of Colorado Springs and southwest of Denver. It’s a popular place due to its proximity to those population centers.

The recently-retired TC and I did this 20-mile loop in the southern part of the Wilderness over 3.5 days. We had pretty good weather – mostly clear skies with no rain. A high of about 90F on day 1 but only about 80F on the other days. Lows in the 38-45F range made for great sleeping. A full moon made the headlamp redundant.

We were accompanied on the way out by DM (aka “Kemo”), a friend who was to begin a through-hike of the Colorado Trail the next day. We dropped him in Colorado Springs where he had a ride to Denver, while we headed into the mountains for the Goose Creek campground – a small oasis within the destruction of the Hayman Fire of 2002.

Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Autumn color in the Eagles Nest Wilderness (Colorado)

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Michael R

The Eagles Nest Wilderness is about 133K acres in north central Colorado encompassing the Gore Range, just north of Silverthorne and Dillon. A friend (JH) and I planned a 4-day excursion there for September 27-30. This was the first time I’ve been in the Rockies late in the season to see some of the autumn color. Unfortunately, something went wrong when recharging my camera after the last trip and I was unable to get as many photos as I would have liked.

Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wind River Range: Scab Creek to Middle Fork, Rainbow, and Raid Lakes plus others

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Michael R

Wind River trip #6 is in the bag. I and 3 of the usual suspects (RC, TC, & PDC) did a 6-night 35-mile “lollipop” (Aug 29 – Sep 4 2021) that took us past Toboggan, Little Divide, Lightning, Dream, Bobs, Sandpoint, Middle Fork, Rainbow, Dream, Raid, and South Fork Lakes, and then out past Lightning, Little Divide, and Toboggan Lakes again. We spent an extra day at Middle Fork Lake with a day-hike up to Donna Lake at the base of Pronghorn Peak.

Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Michael R

We’re driving for miles across a gently-rolling landscape covered with sage brush and an occasional small shrub. Suddenly, there’s a giant crack in the earth. We’ve arrived at Black Canyon of the Gunnison, specifically the North Rim of the National Park. It’s not really a crack but the result of millions of years of the Gunnison River cutting down as the surrounding land was uplifted. However it formed, the result is pretty awe-inspiring.

Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

West Elk Wilderness, CO – a Cliff Creek, Castle Creek, and Lowline loop

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Michael R

Colorado’s West Elk Wilderness covers over 176K acres of the Gunnison National Forest north of Gunnison and west of Crested Butte. Outdoor Trail Maps LLC has a good map of the area. See also Trails Illustrated maps # 133 and 134 for less-accurate alternatives.

Some friends and I did a 5-day, 24-mile “lollipop” starting July 25 at the Cliff Creek trail head on County Road 12 aka Kebler Pass Road, headed south over Beckwith Pass into a counter-clockwise loop consisting of the remainder of the Cliff Creek trail, Castle Creek trail, and Lowline trail, then back north over Beckwith Pass to return to the trail head July 29.

Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Upper Buffalo Wilderness – Compton, Wild Burro, and Beagle Point Falls

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Michael R

It was a great weekend for checking out some more waterfalls in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness, with a bit of rain a couple days before the trip and relatively good weather during.  The targets this time were Compton Double Falls (39′), Wild Burro Falls (21′), and Beagle Point Falls (76′) – all on or near Whitaker Creek.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Upper Buffalo Wilderness – a Boen Gulf bushwhack

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Michael R

The Boen Gulf access point for the Upper Buffalo Wilderness is the primary way of accessing 4 nearby waterfalls – Magnolia, Woods Boys, Stahle, and Hadlock Cascade, though you can also get to Paradise Falls with a bit more walking.  I’ve day-hiked this area 2 or 3 times but this was first time backpacking there – a 2-nighter accompanied by RC and CC.  Rain the previous day had the creeks flowing well.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Eagle Rock Loop, take 2

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Michael R

This was my second time doing the 27-mile Eagle Rock Loop and was accompanied by RC (who was also with me 6 years ago) and first-timer TC.  I was surprised at how little of this great scenery I remembered, and think I need to make a point of doing this hike every 2 or 3 years.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Wind River Range – a Titcomb & Indian Basins loop

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Michael R

My 5th annual trip to the Wind River Range!  This time we started in the Elkhart Park area, near Pinedale, at the Pole Creek trail head.  The target area is almost entirely within the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Platte River Wilderness, Snowy Range, WY

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Michael R

The Platte River Wilderness covers about 23K acres of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in southern Wyoming’s Snowy Range and was the site of a recent 3-day trip.  Our original plan was for an area about 20 miles north near Medicine Bow Peak but a week before the trip there was still too much snow at that elevation so an alternate plan was hastily assembled.

Platte River Wilderness

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment