[Journal entry for March 16, 2014, North Tenmile Trail, Frisco, Colorado]. The day begins overcast but then clears by mid-morning. Temperatures are moderate – around freezing. Dallas and I hike the North Tenmile Trail, which follows North Tenmile Creek, a small stream in the Eagles Nest Wilderness. The trailhead is at the west end of Main Street, just past the Interstate 70 overlook, just a mile or so from the Snowshoe Inn, the motel in downtown Frisco where we have been staying. The trail, or at least the first part of it, is heavily traveled with well-tamped down snow. I wear instep crampons and Dallas wears microspikes. We walk due west, past several tall peaks, including Wichita Mountain, to our south. Initially, the trail is well above the level of the creek, in low woods that are a mix of Aspen and conifers. We feel the temperature drop and climb as we pass from shadow to open, sunlit glade. We pass a low boulder cave, make of a rock slab propped up by a boulder. I climb in and Dallas takes my picture. The trail descends down to the edge of the creek, in a section where it meanders through a broad wetland surrounded by steep ridges. The snow is five or six feed deep here and the flowing water of the creek has made steep banks where it has melted the snow away. We walk down to an exposed gravel bank where we have a good view of the wetland, with its reddish-brown bushes. We then continue onward, occasionally passing close to the stream, but more often well above it. We stop for lunch at a clearing by the Eagles Nest Wilderness sign, about two miles from the trailhead. The trail is less traveled past this point and we soon need to switch to snowshoes. The trail is less distinct here, with multiple splays made my telemark skiers. We take the higher splay, which crosses several large snowfields into which the telemarkers have carves sinuous paths. The trail begins a steep ascent to the north, and we follow it for a few minutes, but then turn around, for the day is getting late. This area has great views, both of a snowy peak further along the trail and back through the notch of the valley, towards Dillon Lake and the high peaks beyond it. Back at the main intersection, I walk the lower splay for about a quarter mile, while Dallas waits. It is much the same as the upper – just set lower on the hill and closer to the stream. I bushwhack back up to the upper splay and take it back to where Dallas waits. Dallas switches back to her microspikes and hikes the trail, but I keep to my snowshoes and make several long bushwhacks along to North Tenmile Creek. The late afternoon sun is lighting up the water in the creek brightly, and the overhanging snow banks are providing beautiful contrasting shadows. I pass one small beaver lodge. It is completely covered with snow. The snow is much more powdery than near the trail – I suppose because it is more shaded. My last bushwhacks is through the large wetland, following the edge of the creek. The view here of the meandering stream, deeply incised into the snow, and the steep ridge to its south is fantastic. I rejoin Dallas at the east end of the wetland, switch to my instep crampons, and head back to the car. The rocks, trees and snowfields on the upper slopes of Wichita Mountain are vividly lit by the sun. About five and a half hours.