Trip report
Jun 15, 2019 — I've been really trying to go for all the most fun routes in Red Rocks over the last few months, and I met up with a new friend (!) Colin to do the Graffiti Ledges, an interesting feature used to access North Peak (the sandstone North Peak) and Lost Creek Peak. Starting from the Willow Spring Trailhead, we headed up a social trail into Lost Creek Canyon, where we found the watercourse shortly after. We followed this boulder-hoppy fun bit through the sweltering heat, and made it to a major fork in the canyon. We took the left fork, which led southwest. A Class 4 move led into the canyon, and we encountered a bunch of fun obstacles (Class 2-3) leading to what seemed like the head of the canyon. It's not intuitive, but in order to access the Graffiti Ledges, keep to the right once near the head. A Class 3+ crack obstacle leads to the start of the Ledges' west side. There's one very short section toward the beginning of the Ledges that required some care, but overall it was just an interesting, pretty traverse on an exposed ledge. The route curves around past a wide slabby viewpoint and continues south of Lost Creek Peak (which looms just above), heading down on a ramp into another canyon just south of Lost Creek's ridge. Once within the drainage, we located cairns leading directly south, not in the main canyon drainage, but instead a shallower tributary. Class 2 led to the flatter ground above, and up to North Peak (the sandstone North Peak, the limestone North Peak is farther south). From North Peak, we headed along the ridge to Lost Creek Peak before locating a really pretty Class 2+ gully for our descent. We followed Rocky Gap Road back to the trailhead, though I recommend instead taking a defined trail on the ridge to the south of this drainage for a much easier descent.