Beautiful Colorado mountain cabin with ham radio access at the foot of Mt. Princeton

I really enjoyed my stay there over the weekend! The weather was cool, clear, and beautiful and I enjoyed the couple of hikes I took around the area the day before the contest. The kitchen was certainly well equipped and it was nice to be able to have all the condiments and other sandwich accessories such as deli mustard available for use. The ham shack was great and all the antennas worked very well during the entire contest. That 40 meter yagi and the 80 meter sloper dipoles got many stations in the USA and Canada to come back to my 5 watt signal on the first call! And the upper bands were a lot of fun to operate also. Having 3 separate Yagis all working well allowed me to call stations in the "search and pounce" mode with rarely ever having to wait to rotate the beam! I hope to return some time in the near future for another very pleasant contest weekend!

Bill, W8QZA

Jay, KØGEO

"Oscar, EA1DR and I decided to rent Ken's Lost Creek cabin for the CQWWDX Phone Contest. We had been in the US several times before, but never to the Colorado mountains. We exchanged several emails with Ken before our arrival, and he provided us with a lot of helpful information about how to pack for our trip. Ken always answered our emails within hours, which was greatly appreciated. The map that Ken sent to us made it easy to find the cabin. The cabin is perfect - comfortable, and very well decorated. It has everything you need, so you have to take basically nothing. It's like when you leave your home to visit a good friend. The heating system works great for the cool nights in the Rockies. The radio room includes two top-of-the-line operating positions suitable for single op, multi-single or multi-two contesting. The cabin now has high-speed internet access with Wi-Fi. The location is perfect for radio, with wide-open takeoff in all directions, except west, which is blocked by Mt. Princeton. We were very loud in Europe, with many unsolicited comments about our strong signal. Ken is an excellent host. He helped us by supplying propagation advice. He was always available for us by telephone or VHF. Ken is a true gentleman. Don't forget to explore the area with its beautiful scenery, including the towns of Buena Vista, Salida and the ghost town of St. Elmo. This experience is highly recommended. Lost Creek cabin is your place for a wonderful vacation."

Fernando, EC1CT

"Our ham adventure to Colorado was in September 2004. I found the ad for Lost Creek Cabin in QST, contacted Ken, WØLSD, and we were on our way shortly thereafter. We arrived several days before a contest weekend (unlike Ken, I'm not a contester -- more of a casual DXer). We found the cabin to be well appointed, with a full kitchen, living room, bedrooms, sun porch, and all the other comforts of home (It's more of a home than a cabin -- Ken had lived there for many years before moving into town). The cabin is just a short drive to town. Buena Vista has all the tourist amenities, including restaurants, a fine grocery store, gift shops, and even river rafting in the summer! The ham shack has everything a ham could want, from HF to VHF, much more than my shack in 6-land. I used the 756Pro, along with the antenna farm to go with it, mostly on 20 meters. I'm not much of an operator, but the station is a full contest station (with lots of awards posted on the walls for contests won from this QTH). The highlight for me was working a ham buddy, Ray, W9EC, in Lompoc, CA (our hometown) just after the end of the contest. I had to brag to Ray about the station at WØLSD! Ken has added much more equipment since 2004. And don't worry about your YL enjoying the trip -- my XYL liked Buena Vista so much that we moved from the California coast to Buena Vista just a couple of months after our stay at Lost Creek!"

Rick, WA6NUT

"Lost Creek is a great place to get away from the stresses of the city. The combination of a great ham radio location and mountain sightseeing is hard to beat!

John, WØDC

"Lost Creek Cabin provides an excellent balance for a vacationing ham family. The cabin itself offers great accommodations, and the location affords endless opportunities for enjoying nature. The ham station is well equipped - even for serious DXers, and all aspects of station operation are well-documented. The updated website gives the potential ham operator and family about as good an "inside peek" as you could expect from a web document. Mr. Eigsti is very cordial, and willingly answers any questions the potential renter may have."

Jim, WS6X

From Jim's wife, Elaine: "The cabin was comfortable and warm. We enjoyed the birds and deer right outside our windows. Of course, seeing Mt. Princeton right behind the cabin was wonderful.

I would have liked to know more about what the kitchen has in stock for cooking equipment. The large crock pot doesn't work that well, because the control wiggles loose very easily. Most pans and kettles have lids, but not all do. There needs to be more containers to store leftover foods for another meal. Otherwise, the cabin has all the amenities you need to be comfortable."

"We discovered Buena Vista, while on a road trip in 1989. We knew from our first impression that we wanted to go back and explore this beautiful valley. We saw Ken's ad for Lost Creek cabin in QST, and booked for one week in September, 1990. We've come back to rent Lost Creek every year, since then! Lost Creek cabin has become a home away from home for us. Lost Creek is an outstanding value. You don't have to be a radio amateur to thoroughly enjoy a vacation at the cabin. We've recommended Lost Creek to several non-ham families, and they have all returned with high praise. There's plenty of room for a large family or for multiple couples to be comfortable. Buena Vista has some fun restaurants and art galleries, and the residents are really friendly. Add to this the fact that Ken is one of the greatest people on the planet, and you can't go wrong."

Bob, WØBV and Kate, KØYV

"Enjoyed our time immensely at Ken's Lost Creek Cabin. It had all the comforts of home, and Ken made sure that whatever we needed was provided (including birdseed!). A beautiful location that is surrounded by mountains - Buena Vista has great restaurants, shopping and a really neat coffee shop. All these things contributed to a vacation we'll always remember. We look forward to going back soon, but not alone. Next time, we'll bring our grandchildren. With so much for them to do, we know they'll have the time of their lives there! Also, for you ham radio operators - operating Ken's 1st class amateur radio station was a real pleasure. Can't wait to go back."

Bob KS9W & Sandy Stolberg