McCurdy Creek loop

The Lost Creek Wilderness was an area I wanted to get to know better, so when I saw a request for partners for a 2 day backpacking loop through the area that would be mostly off-trail and take in several unnamed peaks I quickly signed up. Dwight was the originator of the request and has been working on climbing all the ranked peaks in the wilderness. He turned out to be a great guide to the inner secrets of the Lost Creek and had plotted a great loop with many highlights. We met not far from Denver in the pre-dawn darkness and carpooled to the Lost Creek trailhead to begin our adventure.

Shortly before leaving the trail to begin our ascent of the unnamed 11,423 foot peak we were treated to a beautiful display of dawn alpine glow.

The slope we climbed held some snow as this was a well-shaded north aspect, but not enough to get over the tops of our trail shoes. We’d discounted a suggestion to bring boots for this hike and so far felt vindicated in our decision. The climb warmed us up and before long we were near the rocky outcrops marking the summit.

However, there were several rock outcrops and we weren’t 100% sure which was the highest, so we had to visit them all.

Checking GPS and altimeter readings showed a couple of the points to be very, very close in elevation.

We left the summit and descended in a southwest direction. Initially we found boulders to negotiate around, but the terrain soon smoothed out into a pleasant hike through semi-open trees.

At the base of the peak we crossed the Brookside-McCurdy trail and headed across the partly-frozen wetlands around Indian Creek.

On the other side of the valley we started climbing again, towards another unnamed peak: 11,485. Dwight and I took turns leading and picking out the best route through the trees and brush. We reached the ridge crest well north of the true summit and started heading south.

While hiking along the ridge line to the highest points, Dwight suddenly realized his day pack with a fleece jacket that was strapped to the outside of his pack had disappeared. We turned around and retraced our steps for a few hundred feet then decided the pack could have disappeared some time ago. So we dropped our packs and made a dash for the two summits of UN 11485.

The northern of the two summits had a register that saw only a signature or two a year, but Dwight’s level showed that the southern rock outcrop was taller.

So of course we headed to the southern rocks and scrambled up there before returning to our packs. We backtracked north along the ridge looking for our tracks in the patches of snow so we’d stay as close as possible to our route and increase the chance that we’d find the missing bag. Where there wasn’t any snow, we’d spread out a little to gain more coverage area. It was in that formation that I came across the pack on the top of the ridge and called to Dwight just below. We even identified the likely culprit, a sneaky branch that had ripped the pack from Dwight’s backpack.

With the peak obtained and the pack found, we returned to Indian Creek and stopped to fill up on water.

Time-wise things looked good for adding another peak to our day and I wanted to visit Bison Peak, which is the highest in the Tarryall mountains and the Lost Creek Wilderness. We began the slow uphill bushwhack and took one break about half way up just before breaking out above treeline.

The rock formations were amazing and were another reason I’d wanted to visit Bison Peak.

Along the summit plateau we wove in and out of the boulders seeking out the high point.

At the summit we celebrated with a little bison jerky in honor of the peak, then we started down the east slopes from the summit.

We quickly reached treeline and the deepest snow we’d seen all day. Dwight stopped to put one some gaiters, but I had left mine in my car so mentally prepared for wet feet. Talk was already turning to a campfire this evening.

The slope leveled out and the snow decreased as we dropped in elevation. However, the bushwhacking began to get much worse.

I was a little worried about our descent route to McCurdy Creek, as the map showed a lot of closely spaced topo lines and we hadn’t a rope or any gear to deal with cliffs. I kept a close watch on my altimeter for the over 1,000 feet drop hoping we’d make it through okay without any overly scary downclimbs.

We did find numerous boulders and lots of steep bushwhacking, but nothing that wasn’t passable with some scouting of options. As we neared McCurdy Creek we could spot a distinctive rock tower close above the valley floor.

The slope angle relented as we got closer to McCurdy creek and we eventually reached it after a final push through aspens.

It had taken us about an hour and a half to descend from the summit of Bison Peak. Not too bad considering the terrain. However, we also expected the travel through McCurdy creek to be equally arduous. Much of the terrain above the creek valley was lined with cliffs and huge boulders had fallen from the rock walls above and provided tough conditions for our passage. We were constantly second-guessing which side of the creek would offer the easiest travel and at times hiking 100 feet up the valley walls to avoid house-sized boulders. Game trails were intermittent at best and when contouring on the slopes above the creek we had to be careful of loose rocks and pine needle covered dirt, as a slip might send us sliding down a ways.

For challenge and shear mental exhaustion, I was finding this to be one of the toughest bushwhacks I’d done. A descent from Granite Peak in Montana, along side giant boulders near Avalanche Lake and rain-slick granite slabs near Snowball Lakes was possibly close.

From high vantage points we could see that we were nearing the junction with Lost Creek. As we got even closer I noticed more evidence of beaver activity and then suddenly an old campfire under a boulder. We’d reached Lost Creek after an hour and a half to go 1.25 miles.

Running beside Lost Creek was an unmaintained trail, but it provided a vast improvement on our traveling speed.

We located a campsite not far from the confluence of the two creeks and went through the routine of cooking, setting up shelters and starting a fire. We spent an enjoyable couple hours relaxing before turning in for the evening.

The next morning we got started hiking about dawn – time for us was a muddled concept since Dwight’s GPS had picked up the change back to standard time but my watch needed manual adjustment.

We followed the unofficial trail downstream towards the McCurdy Park Trail. The creek was living up to its name, disappearing at times below huge boulders.

Before reaching the official trail I commented to Dwight how finding the trail at Lost Creek last night made me feel a bit like Lewis & Clark when they reached the Pacific Ocean. After Dwight scolded me for exaggerating, I kept the part about feeling like Lewis & Clark at Lemhi Pass (and seeing all the Rockies still stretching before them) yesterday as we started the descent from Bison Peak to myself.

After crossing Lost Creek one last time, and this time on a nice log bridge, we left the fleshpots of well-maintained trail and started another bushwhack.

Our goal today was two unnamed peaks, 11230 and 10926. The bushwhacking was no where near as slow as yesterday’s descent through McCurdy Creek, but it certainly wasn’t speedy as we pushed through aspens, over heather, into sticker bushes and up rocks.

Once we reached the highs above we had a clear view of our first object, 11230.

The face in view looked very technical, but Dwight assured me there were scrambling routes up the west side. After completing our bushwhack to the base of the cliffs we located a route that looked pretty straight forward and started up some ledges and ramps.

The summit was ridge about sidewalk width that we wandered on while looking for great photos.

To the northwest we could see our final goal, 10926 which also looked quite technical from the side we were viewing. Dwight said he heard a scramble route went up from the north but otherwise the only information he had was that the route was “interesting”.

We descended back down to our backpacks, then continued our bushwhack to 10926. Once on the north side we started looking for possible routes. What we found was certainly “interesting”, probably the most improbable ascent route on a peak I’ve yet taken. I’ll leave out all the details so others can experience the crazy discoveries that await if you try this peak.

I was a little nervous at times on the ascent, as there was quite a bit of exposure. Thankfully, the holds were solid and plentiful but I didn’t really relax until we were back down to our packs. Shouldering the loads, we set off downhill to the East Lost Park and the Wigwam Trail.

The trail was another relief to reach, even if it was partly snow covered and icy. As we continued back to our starting point, we crossed the Lost Creek one final time and Dwight pointed out the start of the unofficial trail that led down the valley to our campsite.

On the hike out we could look back and see 10926 sticking up through the trees.

About a mile before the trailhead we ran into a couple out day hiking, they were the first and only people we saw the entire trip.

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