[Five hikes exploring the Eagle Nest Wilderness out of the Willbrook Road Trailhead, Silverthorne, Colorado, and mostly in the vicinity of North Willow Creek, January 4 through 14, 2020]

January 4, 2019. Dallas and I hiked on the flank of Red Mountain, near Silverthorne, Colorado. We parked at the west end of Willowbrook Road in Silverthorne in a small lot with an eight-car capacity. They sky was partly sunny, with occasional long intervals of sun, and improved as the day progressed. Snow fleas (Springtails) hopped around on the snow in sunlit, warmer places. We wore Micro-Spikes, for although several feet of snow lay on the ground, the trail had been packed down by previous hikers and snowshoes were not needed. We took the Ditches Trail eastward, through woods of Lodgepole Pine and Aspen, to North Willow Brook Trail, to Gore Range Trail 60. Some of the spruce trees were very tall and beautiful, but the Lodgepole Pines showed the ravages of the beetle infestation that has been plaguing the Rockies, with most of the tall trees dead or dying. Dead trees had already been removes from some areas, giving the land an open and rag-tag appearance. We spotted a Downy Woodpecker on the trunk of one dead but still standing Lodgepole. We came to several viewpoints where we could see nearby Buffalo Mountain and Red Peak. We crossed North Willow Brook via a very primitive bridge made of two snow-covered parallel logs, whose top surfaces were adzed flat, but which were of two different heights! We could hear the brook was running, but the water was mostly covered over with snow and ice. An enormous number of logs had collected in the stream bed, making it one long snag. We climbed up to an overlook on Gore Range Trail 60, about a half mile south of the intersection, where we had a nice view eastward towards Dillon Lake. We had lunch sitting on a log beside the trail. I fired up my MSR PocketRocket stove and made tea. While we were eating, a group of three hikers and two dogs came by. We had a good time talking with them. They were on some sort of road trip and had recently been to the same area in Big Sur California where Dallas and I had hiked a few years ago. After finishing lunch, we retraced our path back to our car. About three hours.

January 5, 2019. Dallas and I again hiked on the flank of Red Mountain, near Silverthorne, Colorado. Today we completed the loop we started yesterday, from the parking lot at the west end of Willowbrook Road in Silverthorne Colorado, to South Willow Brook Trail, to Mesa Cortina Trail, to Gore Range Trail 60, to North Willow Brook Trail, to Ditches Trail, and back to the parking lot. We again wore Micro-Spikes, for the trails were mostly well-packed. The day started out mostly cloudy, but gradually cleared during our hike, and became sunny by the end. South Willow Brook and Mesa Cortina follow the south bank of South Willow Creek, is in the bottom of a gently sloping valley and has a pleasant, open appearance on account of a sequence of beaver ponds, full of red-stemmed Willow bushes. After crossing a pedestrian bridge, we joined Gore Range Trail 60 and took it north and uphill. The grades were fairly gentle, but this part of the trail was not so well travelled. We post-holed fairly frequently, and had to break trail on two occasion where wind had almost covered over the trail with fresh snow. At one point, we crossed a little rivulet using stepping stones. As the day drew on, we were anxious to find yesterday’s lunch spot, but though we knew we were on the same ridge as it, the trail was very windy and our reaching the spot took longer than we anticipated. Eventually, we arrived and had a relaxing lunch. I again made tea with my MSR PocketRocket stove. We relaxed and enjoyed the view, which is spectacular. After lunch, we continued on the trail, taking it downhill and once again crossing North Willow Brook via the primitive log bridge. We had done this part of the trail yesterday and since it was familiar our transit of it seemed quick. About five hours.

January 9, 2019. Dallas and I hiked again on the flank of Red Mountain, wearing Micro-Spikes. We started on the Ditches Trail but then transferred to the Three Peaks Trail, which adds a little distance before joining the North Willow Creek Trail. It went through more-open country than Ditches and had a more steady rise. We took the right hand turn when we reached the intersection with Gore Range Trail 60, heading westward along North Willow Creek, and hoping to reach a little beaver pond that is about a mile from the intersection. However, the trail proved very slow, both because it was less well-packed and because we had to crawl under – or climb over – several trees that had fallen across the trail. We stopped before reaching the pond and had lunch, sitting on a log that had fallen across the trail. As had become my usual practice, I made tea on the MSR PocketRocket stove. Our lunch spot has a view of a marshy area along the creek that was full of reddish Willow bushes. We headed back after lunch, retracing our route, except not taking the Three Peaks Trail detour. About four hours.

January 11, 2018. I took a solo hike up the North Meadow Brook Trail. The day is cold and grey, with a little light snow. As usual, I parked at the west end of Willowbrook Road in Silverthorne Colorado. I wore snowshoes today, both because a few inches of snow fell last night and because I expected the trails at the higher elevations to be less well-packed. I walked up to the North Meadow Creek Trail – Gore Range Trail 60 intersection, and then took Gore Range 60 westward. The snowshoes enabled to go around some of the fallen trees that has so slowed Dallas and I on our last hike along this trail. I soon passed our former lunch spot and a few minutes later came to the Beaver Pond. It was, of course, covered with snow, but recognizable as a wetland by the many reddish Willow bushes that protruded from it. Prior to the pond, the trail has been following the creek fairly closely, but beyond it, it swings more to the north, through conifer woods. Luckily, a skier who knew the area had traversed the trail a few days ago and left a track, for I never would have been able to keep to it had it been unbroken. Even so, I made several digressions off of it, especially in the vicinity of a very large boulder, where several ski tracks diverged. I must have passed the intersection with the Maryland Creek Trail, but I did not notice it; perhaps I was on a digression. The trail rose and the snowshoeing became exerting, yet all of the slopes were very manageable. For a while, the trail followed a ridge with good views to the south, though since light snow was falling, the visibility today was limited. The trail then did a final two switchbacks up the flank of a wooded ridge. After a final burst of energy, I found myself at the intersection with the Salmon Willow Lakes Trail. I would like to see these lakes someday! But Salmon, the first, is two mile or so from the intersection, and I was out of time, so today was not the day. I turned about and retraced my trail to my car. About four and a half hours.

January 14, 2019. Dallas and I hiked along South Willow Creek, wearing Micro-Spikes, starting from the parking at the lot at the end of Willowbrook road in Silverthorne and taking the South Willow Brook Trail, the Mesa Cortina Trail and Gore Range Trail 60. These trails follow the brook as they ascend into the broad wooded valley between Buffalo and Red Mountains. Although mostly in woods, the trail offers occasional views of the mountains. Beaver have built a series of ponds along the brook. They are full of picturesque snow formations, out of which poke orange-red willow bushes. Overall, I counted six bridges between the trailhead and our lunch spot, which was on Gore Range Trail 60, a little past the largest beaver pond. The trails became less and less well trod as we walked into the interior of the Eagle’s Nest Wilderness, and harder and harder to traverse on Micro-Spikes; we really should have brought snowshoes. Our lunch spot was on a log that was about fifty feet off the trail. We had to wade through thigh-high snow to reach it. We tamped down a little area around the log to give us room to put out feet and gear and stove, so it was a bit like sitting on the edge of a pit. We ate our lunch and drank our tea, looking out across a large meadow that commanded a splendid view of the steep, glacially-carved flanks of Buffalo and Red Mountains. The meadow is north of the creek and separated from it by a strip of woods. After lunch, we headed back the way we came. We made two detours to view the big Beaver Pond, one at its western edge and one at its eastern. Each time, we had to wade through knee-deep snow to reach the edge of the pond. Like the smaller ponds we had passed earlier in the hike, it was full of snow formations and snow-draped willow bushes. The creek was not evident from either of these vantages. My recollection from previous hikes is that it follows the opposite, southern side of the marsh. The afternoon shadows were lengthening as we hiked back, and the sun was lighting up the sides of bushes and trees, making the terrane very beautiful. About four hours.