[Journal entry for January 8, 2015; South Willow Creek, Eagle’s Nest Wilderness, near Silverthorne Colorado]. I parked at the Mesa Cortina Trailhead at the end of Royal Redbird Drive up on the hill above the town of Silverthorne Colorado. My destination was the valley of the South Willow Creek, which runs up the big valley between Buffalo Mountain and Red Peak. I had the notion that I could take an informal trail parallel to Royal Buffalo Drive and so intersect the Connector Trail that connects to the end of that road. However, I soon discovered that these hills are full of winding trails, so keeping to a specific route is tough. I wandered around, taking whatever path seemed to be heading in the right direction. Some sections of trail had its snow beaten down by many people on both skis and snowshoes; one had been broken by a lone snowshoer. I persisted, and eventually found my way to the valley of South Willow Creek at point where a large open meadow provides a wonderful view of Buffalo Mountain and Red Peak. Buffalo was in shade, but the sun was lighting up the snow-covered rocky cliffs of Red Peak beautifully. I wandered around the meadow, looking at the reddish willows and the other marsh vegetation, and crossing creeks twice via snow bridges. Finally, I intersected Gore Range Trail 60, which runs up the axis of the valley. It was visible only because it had seen a lot of traffic; I doubt that I would have been able to spot it had it been covered with unbroken snow. I took it uphill, past the well-marked intersection with the Buffalo Cabin Trail, to a point where it began to ascend steeply into the pass. I passed a section of the trail bordered by large boulders, some with wind-sculpted snow caps. I hiked as far as a viewpoint that looked back down the valley, just past a point where the trail skirted a prominent rock face. I then hiked back down to the Buffalo Cabin Trail, and took it back towards Buffalo Cabin. It crosses the creek, which I guess is braided, several times, and then climbs steeply up the side of the valley, in the shadow of Buffalo Mountain. I reached a prominent and well-marked intersection with two other tails, the Connector Trail, which leads to Royal Buffalo Drive and Trail 31, which leads to the summit of Buffalo Mountain. I still had a bit of time, so I took Trail 31, hoping to get to just above tree line in the hour I felt I could allocate. Unfortunately, tree line proved more than an hour above. I hiked up many switchbacks, with occasional glimpses of the still very distant rocky crest of the mountain, as far as a turn in the trail from which I had a nice view of Dillon Lake, now far below. I then headed back to the intersection and took the Connector Trail to the end of Royal Buffalo Drive. I walked the road back to my car.

While the end of Royal Buffalo Drive has no trailhead parking lot.,per se, I realized that I probably could have parked there without any problem.

About six hours.