Lost Park holds a special place in my heart. On our first trip through with Mike and Brian, Cristina found a half dead squirrel mid-way through the last section and proceeded to carry it out, trying to warm and revive the little guy. I am not sure if he made it, but last we saw of him, in the sun at the bottom of the last rappel. He seemed better off than when we found him almost frozen in the bottom of the slot an hour earlier.

That was interesting, but even more interesting was the hike out. Lagging a bit back from the group, I was enjoying the fine spring day when a shrill scream emanated from my spot. The rest of the group turned around to see if why I had let out such a girlish squeal. Well, turned out I hadn't, but I had stepped on a rabbit apparently sleeping in the brush. He/she let out a squeal and took off, apparently no worse for the wear. The first and only time I have heard of such a crazy encounter. I've always wondered, is stepping on a rabbit's foot lucky or unlucky?

Lost Park, in addition to having crazy animal encounters, is a good, relatively short canyon, with one fantastic section at the end. Time your trip to be at this final section near mid-day for fantastic lighting for pictures. The upper two slot sections require a bit of stemming, so are better suited to beginners with a little experience under their belts or intermediates. Good natural anchor skills are a must, as anchors can be tricky to build or evaluate.

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