This afternoon the dogs and I went to check out the access for the Lost Creek Wilderness.  Since its still technically winter, I wanted to see if the road in was open, passable, or if the trail was going to be buried under snow when we got there.  Seemed like this area would be a good place to go for an early season hike since the elevation there only ranges from 8000 - 12,000 feet.
     The turnoff onto the road leading to the Lost Creek Wilderness is less than 30 miles from Woodland Park, and then its about 15 miles on a dirt road from there.  Much of the route in passes through the aftermath of the Hayman Fire, which burned about 100,000 acres.  The road in was washboardy here and there, but almost completely free of snow, which was a nice surprise.
    Since this trip was a just a spontaneous late afternoon recon run, we only had a short time to hike before dark.  The trail started out in a burned area, but within a half mile it entered into a nice forest that, like most of the valley the trail runs thru, was spared by the fire.  The dogs loved it, and spent most of their time jumping in the creek and rolling around in patches of snow.
   We will be back to this area, and probably soon.  The terrain gets very interesting further up the trail.  Colossal boulders piled up everywhere, more beautiful forest, etc..  Should make for some decent pics eventually.  For now, here are some quickie shots that will give you an idea of what the terrain on the way in looked like.