Lost Canyon
It's definitely not a short drive from Denver to Lost Canyon, but it's worth it. The drive from I-70 through Leadville to Granite is a pretty one. We'd been to Lost Canyon before, so this time the trailhead wasn't such a surprise. Having the GPS track ahead of time really helped.
We went a little way into the trail to a wide spot where we stopped to air down. It was chilly, but the sun was coming out and warming things up. It looked like it was going to be a great day.
We headed down the trail and passed the trailhead for Flume Creek. We planned on coming back there later. We kept going up the switchbacks and we stopped to stretch our legs at the mining equipment, just before the trail gets rougher. Walt entertained us by checking one of his tire's pressure, only to find it was a half-pound higher than the other tires. He joked that he thought something felt "off" so he let out another half-pound. It became a running joke.
When we got to the cabin marking the intersection of trails, we went up around the cabin and back to the main trail for some reason. Then we decided not to go down to the gate at the mine. Instead, we headed up to the overlooks.
We did them in order along with another guy in a Jeep up there on his own. We would see him many times throughout the day. We could see other vehicles in the distance but we missed them on the trail.
We all got out at the first overlook to enjoy the views. It was windy and pretty chilly, so we didn't hang out for long. We were soon back in our Jeeps and off to the second overlook.
The second overlook is an impressive one, and we all enjoyed it. The wind died down and we broke for lunch. It was a very scenic lunch spot, and we definitely took our time packing up to leave.
We stopped for a bit to check out the big cabin. It's still in great shape, which is nice to see. But the wind drove us back to our Jeeps. The clouds were threatening, so a few of us put up tops and put on more clothing.
It sprinkled a little bit on the way to the third overlook, but it wasn't too bad. We didn't stay long at the end, and we didn't hike up the ridge as a group. We still had other trails to do, so we were anxious to be off.
The trip down was scenic but we didn't stop anywhere. When we got to the intersection with Flume Creek we turned to do that trail, a new one for the group. Lost Canyon will always be a favorite for Colorado scenery.
Reports from Other Days: 2
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Lost Canyon. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
