"On Saturday, September 2, 2006, we drove south of Red River to the Wheeler Peak parking area. The elevation was 9630 feet. My 26-year-old son Garret and I put on backpacks, I had about 50 lbs. (After this trip I began to research backpacking in ultralight luxury and over time was able to shed 20 pounds, yet still enjoying all the same benefits of a heaver pack.) Garret brought along his part basset hound, Sam. We hiked south into the Wheeler Peak Wilderness, along the East Fork of Red River, hiked northwest up the mountain to Lost Lake and set up camp. It rained and hailed the last mile and the clouds touched the mountains in a beautiful way. We reluctantly put on rain ponchos and were a little cold and wet when we arrived. We had to wrap Sam up to keep him warm. It was a 7-mile hike to Lost Lake and we camped at the high elevation of 11,500 feet. I used my “wet forest” campfire starting technique and we had a campfire going in no time. I brought along 2 wonderful rib eye steaks, that we cooked over the coals. We had bagels and Rice-a-Roni. Bagels are a great bread to bring along because it doesn’t get crushed. We went to the stream with our water-pump-filter and filled up our cont..." — Phil-Robinson • Sep 23, 2006