Horse-pack and Trail Maintenance - Flattop Wilderness

We have partnered with the National Forest Service in the Flattop Wilderness to offer this unique oppertunity to experience it with the ease of horses carrying all your gear.

From the USFS:

"The Wall Lake Trail is one of the quickest and steepest routes up onto the Flat Tops. Leaving the trailhead just above the Trappers Lake campgrounds, the trail immediately enters lodgepole pine and spruce that were burned in the 2002 Big Fish Fire. The burned area continues until roughly 2 miles above Anderson Lake. Please use extreme caution among standing dead trees. Atop the plateau, the trail meets Oyster Lake Trail (#1825), providing access to the west. Roughly a mile past the Oyster Lake Trail junction the trail reaches Wall Lake. Wall Lake sits nestled below the 12,002' Trappers Peak. The trail stays on the west side of the lake, climbing the "wall" and crossing a saddle into the South Fork drainage. The trail continues across the tundra for 2 miles and ends at Trappers Lake Trail (#1816)."

Standard backpacking gear will be required from each participant, there is a spot on the registration form to indicate if you are short any items, you can let us know and we will do our best to source them for you!  Please email if you have any concerns prior to registering tony@hcvaco.org.

General itinerary is as follows:

1. Meet at Trappers Lake Campgrounds.  Camping at the campground provided, the lodge will be open if you wish to buy your own dinner.
2. Next morning, load up most of the gear onto the horses and head up to the campground: HCVA Hiking route Wall Lake Trailhead to base camp | hike | Komoot. Then setup basecamp.
3. Spend a few days performing trail maintenance and hiking/fishing/packrafting (bring your fun!) around the beautiful Flattop Wilderness.
4. Load up and head back down.

Equipment list:

• Tent
• Sleeping bag (20-30 degree reccomended)
• Sleeping pad
• Backpack (big enough to hold all your stuff)
• Cooking stove and fuel
• Sturdy shoes or boots
• Sleeping pad (foam or inflatable) 
• Waterproof ground sheet 
• Camp shoes (Crocs or lightweight trail shoes are great)
• Trekking poles
• Gaiters
• Synthetic sock liners
• Bug head net
• Water capacity 4L plus
• Water filter/purification method 
• Sun hat & sun glasses 
• Warm hat
• Buff/Bandana
• Synthetic/wool base layer top and botoms
• Synthetic shirt or sun hoody
• Mid-weight fleece top
• Heavy-weight fleece jacket or synthetic/down puffy jacket 
• Waterproof rain jacket w/ hood
• Waterproof rain pants
• Mid-weight fleece pants
• Synthetic hiking pants 
• Synthetic underwear & sports bras 
• Warm lightweight gloves
• Synthetic/wool hiking socks 2-4 pairs
• Sunscreen & lip balm w/ SPF rating 
• Headlamp & 1 set of spare batteries
• Eating equipment
• Personal toiletries
• Stuff sack/bear vault for food

Food:

You will need to bring enough food for four full days, including snacks.  You can bring freeze-dries or fresh food, whatever you choose, reccomended amount of fresh is 1.5lbs per day (6lbs for this trip).  Food will need to be properly dealt with at night to prevent accidental animal feeding situations.  Any toiletries with scent will need to be stored with your food too.  If you wish to hang your food, be sure to bring cordage appropriate for that.

The above equipment list is a guideline, if you have a system that works for you (ie. hammok setup) then go for it!  Keep in mind that for this event we move as a team; ensure your personal choices add to group success.