Backpacking Trip to Lost Lake at Rabbit Ears pass near Steamboat

Join us for a long weekend full of outdoor adventures and spiritual sharing on our Christian wilderness backpacking trip! This event is perfect for singles or couples, or anyone wanting to experience the beauty of nature while connecting with fellow Christians. This event is put on by Red Rocks Church Backpacking Group. We will be hiking along the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) for a two night stay in the wild camping under the stars, and have meaningful conversations with each other.

This trip is a great opportunity to meet like-minded individuals, challenge yourself with outdoor fitness activities, and grow both spiritually and physically. Whether you are new to backpacking or a seasoned backpacker, all skill levels are welcome. Don't miss out on this chance to build connections, explore the wilderness, and deepen your relationship with God in his beautiful creation.

We will meet at the Wooly Mammoth Park and Ride at Section LL and car pool up to the trailhead in Steamboat Springs which is approximately a 2.5 hour drive. The trailhead is a place called Basecamp at Google map location 40.430446572550544, -106.6587661595468. From here we will hike 2 miles up to Lost lake while stopping at Fishhook lake. The total elevation gain is 500 ft. and the hike is quite easy. These lakes are on the CDT. This is a perfect trip for beginners.

PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE AS YOU ARE HOLDING UP THE ENTIRE GROUP FROM STARTING A LONG EXPEDITION. WE WILL WAIT NO MORE THAN TEN MINUTES FOR LATE COMERS.

We will be camping at an elevation of 9,500 feet, which is fairly low. So, the lake will be nice and warm and swimmable. Expect evening low temperatures in the high 40s to low 50s, but being Colorado it could easily drop on any specific night to the high 30s. Please be prepared for these worst case lows. It would also be wise to bring some bug repellant and long sleeve shirts and pants so that you can close up spaces where you could be bitten. I would avoid DEET based bug repellant because it dissolves plastics and polyurethane. This area is known for having very bad mosquitos. So, I recommend a bug head net.

We will camp Friday and Saturday nights at Lost lake. After setting camp Friday we will relax until we do a group dinner followed by some group time when we can get to know each other. Saturday will be a free day to do whatever you like: fish, read, nap in your hammock, do local hikes, swim (It is a beautiful warm lake to swim in) or just hangout and enjoy each other's company. Since we are on the CDT, there will be lots of nice hiking to do Saturday. Saturday evening we will do dinner again and have some more group sharing time. On Sunday we will have some time in the morning to again hangout and do whatever you like. We will break camp by noon and head back to the trailhead. We will stay together as a group when hiking between the campsite and the trailhead.

The most challenging part of this event is the 4 mile drive up to the trailhead in Rabbit Ears pass. It is a rough 4 wheel drive road. We will need to have 4 wheel drive vehicles with a high clearance that can navigate this road.

If you are new to backpacking and have questions or concerns about whether this trip would be appropriate for you, please reach out to me. This is a perfect trip for a first time backpacker. I can help you gauge the difficulty and give you suggestions on equipment and things you can do to get prepared for the trip. Beginning backpackers are very welcome.

There will be no firearms allowed on this trip. Bear mace will be carried by me and you can bring some along too if you like. This is a leader led group activity and so it is expected that you will travel with the group and will not leave the group to do your own thing. If extenuating circumstances come up, talk to the group leader to work it out. If you have questions call me. 303-513-8173