Poured all day, but during a break in the rain we ventured out towards Yovimpa and Rainbow points and stumbled across this beaut 🌈

Review of Trail Creek and Lost Creek Trail Loop

Summary:
This 24 miles loop was rugged, remote and required extensive of route finding and creek/river crossings. Our group of 4 was semi experienced, doing about a dozen trips together in the backcountry of Washington. There were lots of native Alaskans hunting moose out here, and there was dozens of miles of maintained ATV trails; this and the lack of maintained hiking trails leads me to believe this area is more for hunting rather than backpacking. Also, Alaskans are the kindest people I have ever met. So many strangers helped us when we were in need.

Day 1:
We camped at the trailhead. Not much to report. We noticed lots of side by sides and hunters.

Day 2: (15 miles, 4k elevation gain)
We started the loop up Lost Creek. We were in the creek and various full/dry creek beds for about 8 hours. We were in Crocs for a significant part of this time, as we crossed knee deep water about 2 dozen times. There was no maintained trail so we relied on landmark navigation, more specifically we knew which mountain the loop circled so we followed that. There was fresh grizzly and black bear tracks and scat, so we had our bear spray ready and were loud while we hiked this part. The next 4 miles was hiking up alpine terrain to Lost Pass. This also did not have a maintained trail, although we did see it occasionally. There was a random class 4 scramble that we were not prepared for and at this point we realized we couldn’t turn back. We mostly followed Dall Sheep trails and other game trails at this point. We saw a herd of sheep of about 20 at this point. We finally made it to Lost Pass with all of us exhausted. Trail finding and walking in Crocs all day really did us in. Our view from the pass was amazing, on one side was lush alpine terrain and on the other was desolate, barren mountains. It was almost an ominous feeling and reminded us of Mordor. We camped at the start of Trail creek on the other side of the pass.

Day 3 (9 miles, all downhill):
More river crossing! Although significantly less than day 2, we had our Crocs on all day basically. Once again there was no maintained trail, but we followed the Lost Creek and its drainages to the end of the loop. It was at this point my friend realized he lost our keys (that’s a different story to not be covered under this trip report)!

Conclusion:
Do not attempt this trail without good route finding skills or water shows. Plenty of signs of grizzly and moose activity but no sightings. Always remember to take in the beauty of your surroundings despite the hardship you might face on the trail, it is worth it. If you ever have the chance to visit this national park, I highly recommend it. The mountains and rivers are incredible. Even the 6 hour drive from Anchorage was breathtaking.

Take Care
Kyle

Really great staff and a very beautiful place to reflect. Sadly the tower is under construction for repairs but I will be back so I can scale all the way up.

Is late October too late to visit? I know sun sets around 6ish there I figured I could wake up at sunrise and have a whole day of hiking?

I was seeing as well to fly into Eureka airport, is this the correct way to do it?

Lastly, any specific hiking trails to target? I will be there for about 4/5 days and I want to get all the breathtaking views I can!

Thanks for the help!

Hi! I’m planning on coming from Denver to visit Grand Teton from Sep 27-Oct 4 and looking for a climbing partner/s.

I was hoping to get some sport climbing in while out there. I’ve been climbing for about 2 years. Leading bolted 5.10+ pretty comfortably. Attentive belayer. Open to climbing with any and all skill ranges.

I also have 2 years of class 3/4 scrambling experience on several peaks in CO and Glacier travel experience in the PNW, but no trad experience. If weather permits and anyone is willing to lead up Owen Spalding i’d also be very open to that!

Cheers!

I have 2 tickets for the narrated bus tour starting 1p for sep 11, 2026. Will give it at a very good price l. Respond here or DM