This past Friday’s every-other-Friday-off hike was on the Goose Creek Trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness. I became captivated by the Lost Creek Wilderness a couple of years ago when I first hiked in the East Lost Park section of the wilderness area. Lost Creek Wilderness is not an easy wilderness for the casual hiker to explore as much of the really cool stuff is more than a day-hike in. The Goose Creek Trail offers a pretty decent introduction to the wonders that can be found therein
The Goose Creek trailhead is in the southeastern corner of the wilderness area and to get there, one must pass through mile after mile after mile of the burn area of the 2002 Hayman Fire that destroyed 138,000 acres of pristine forest. It’s very sobering and I couldn’t help but mutter a few choice words directed at the woman who started the fire.
- Damage from the 2002 Hayman Fire en route to the Goose Creek trailhead
The first part of the Goose Creek Trail also passes through the burn area, but there is quite a bit of lush growth to be found among the burned trees. I even managed to grab a delicious snack along the way.
- Lush new growth among the charred tree trunks
Wild raspberries
After less than a half mile, the trail leaves the burn area behind and enters the deliciously butterscotch-scented Ponderosa pine forest, and the gurgly goodness of Goose Creek appears shortly after entering the cool forest.
Goose Creek
Goose Creek actually starts its life as Lost Creek high in the Kenosha Mountains on the far northern border of the wilderness area. As Lost Creek enters a boulder-choked valley in the middle of the wilderness, it disappears into underground caverns and then reappears no fewer than 11 times – hence the name Lost Creek. After its last reappearance above ground, Lost Creek is thereafter known as Goose Creek.
The Goose Creek Trail follows its namesake creek for maybe about a mile before ascending up and up and up the side of the valley. Occasionally the hiker is able to catch a glimpse through the trees of the interesting granite rock formations that typify the Lost Creek Wilderness.
Weathered granite outcrop
Stony sentinels
At about the 3.5 mile mark, a side trail leads to a group of historical buildings and eventually to the remains of a shafthouse that were part of a misguided project to dam Lost Creek back in the late 1800s.
Buildings of the Antero and Lost Park Reservoir Company
All that remains of the shafthouse
The highlight of the hike for me was a labyrinth of building-sized boulders located along the trail between the historic building and the shafthouse. This one in particular caught my eye and all I could do was hope it wasn’t hungry!
The Leviathan of Lost Creek
Shortly after visiting the shafthouse area, the afternoon clouds rolled in and I got caught in a quite a downpour, complete with a bit of hail. I could have hunkered down and waited it out under the massive boulders, but decided instead to don my neon yellow emergency rain poncho and forge on. I’m sure I was quite a sight and fortunately there are no photos of that. 
The rain continued for a while, but I was eventually treated to a fresh batch of blue sky and a very pleasant (but long) walk back to the trailhead.
The way back
By the time I got back to my car, the clouds had encroached again and it was just starting to rain, the plus side of which was the very lovely rainbow that managed to brighten up the apocalyptic landscape along the road on the way home.
Post-hike rainbow
These and many, many more photos from this really, really awesome hike can be found in my Goose Creek Trail gallery HERE.
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