[Journal entry for January 8, 2019; Miners Creek Road, Frisco Colorado]. In the morning, I returned to Zack’s Stop, a hiker’s lot at the end of Second Avenue in Frisco Colorado, and took the Peaks Trail south through the woods at the edge of town. The day is clear and the views of Royal Mountain from across the little wetland near the trailhead are tremendous. The trail takes me first to Rainbow Lake, a small picturesque pond perched high up in a valley. I was pleased to see its beauty on a sunny day; my other two visits have been during snowfalls. The pond is impounded by an earthen bank on the downhill side; whether it’s a natural moraine or some sort of dam is hard to discern. A beaver lodge stands in the pond, near the Miners Creek inflow. I circle the wetland on the north shore of the pond and connect with Miners Creek Road, a woods road that heads due south into the woods, following the west bank of the creek. I make a couple of detours into wetlands between road and creek, to admire the bushes and snow formations, and to get views of the more distant hills. I pass a couple of cross-country skiers with a playful dog carrying a stick. Initially my snow boots suffice for walking, for the trail starts out well packed, but eventually I need to put on my snowshoes. The road gradually steepens and crosses a tributary of Miners Creek via a wooden bridge. Eventually I come to an “End of Road 1” sign – though the road seems to continue beyond it. I continue for a half mile or so, to a westerly turn of the road that affords views of the Tenmile Range. I then turn about.

I cross Miners Creek via a pair of footbridges and connect with the Peaks Trail, which is roughly paralleling the road on the other side of the creek. It offers a much better view of the Tenmile Range, viewed across wetlands along the creek. I encounter a cross-country skier, coming from the other direction. He said that a moose cow and its two calves were blocking the trail north of Rainbow Lake. I snowshoed straight across Rainbow Lake, enjoying the views, but when I arrived at the location of the moose sighting, which was perhaps twenty minutes after meeting the skier, only moose tracks remained.

Two trees had fallen across the lower section of the Peaks Trail since Dallas and I walked to Rainbow Lake yesterday, on account of yesterday’s high winds.

About four hours.