Lilly Pad Lake via Meadow Creek

Distance: 3 miles round trip
Elevation: 9,155 ft - 9,915 ft
Elevation Gain: 760 ft
Date Hiked: 4 August, 2011
Dogs: Off leash until the Eagles Nest Wilderness

Lilly Pad Lake with Buffalo Mountain in the background

This short hike near Frisco, CO is popular with the locals and their kids and also with visitors.  Both groups enjoy the varied microclimates, views of Lake Dillon, and two small lakes, one of which is fact still covered with Lilly Pads.

The trailhead

Starting out on the Meadow Creek Trail, which is very rocky.

The junction at 0.6 miles

There are two ways to get to Lilly Pad Lake.  The first is via Ryan Gulch Road.  This route is longer and flatter.  The second is via the Meadow Creek Trailhead, which is found down a dirt road paralleling I-70 from the first Frisco exit (heading west).  

Heading into the Lodgepole forest

A pile of downed Lodgepoles

 I did this hike mid-day as a general work out and it suited perfectly.  The trail is steep enough that you can really get your heart rate pumping but short enough to fit into an hour if you hustle.

Heading into the Fir forest

Meadow Creek from the bridge

 The trail starts out on the Meadow Creek Trail, which goes toward Eccles Pass, and begins to climb sharply over rough rocks.  At 0.6 miles the trail splits with the route going to Lilly Pad heading off to the right.  From this point on the path is much easier on the paws.

Crossing an open Sagebrush meadow

View of Mt. Guyot from a long meadow

What I found particularly interesting about this trail is that it passes through an Aspen Forest, a mostly dying Lodgepole Forest, open Sagebrush meadows, and a mixed Fir forest.  On one trail you can experience the 4 major biomes of Colorado, all within the span of 1.5 miles.  Toss in a few lovely views of Lake Dillon and you have a very nice outing indeed.

View of Lake Dillon

Lilly Pad Lake itself is not a pleasant as it used to be.  12 years ago it was covered in Lilly Pads, which of course gave it its name.  Those are gone now, but there is a small pond just north of the lake that has them, so be sure to go far enough or you'll miss out.   Most of the Lodepoles around the lake are dead, which looks less funeral in winter.  The bottom line is that this trail is really for the journey and not the destination.

Clouds reflected in Lilly Pad Lake

Lilly Pads on the small pond next to Lilly Pad Lake

 I constantly overhear waitress recommend this trail to visitors who want a short but scenic hike.  I can not disagree.  To get your feet wet in Colorado or take an afternoon stroll, Lilly Pad Lake is a great choice.

North Tenmile Creek

Distance: 7 miles round trip
Elevation: 9,092 ft - 10,192 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,100 ft
Date Hiked: 30 July, 2011
Bathroom at trailhead: No, but one just under the bridge going into Frisco itself.
Dogs: Off leash until the wilderness boundary (two miles)

Open meadow in the upper portion of North Ten Mile Creek

North Tenmile Creek Trail near Frisco CO is a popular trail that heads up sharply upwards along a mountain road until breaking out into meadows filled with wildflowers and humans lounging by the water.

Trailhead for North Tenmile Creek

The route briefly follows a paved road.

The parking lot for North Tenmile Creek is located at the second Frisco exit (going west). Since it is literally part of the exit itself, it is hard to miss. Popular with the locals, it seems to be always full.

Someone painted an obvious blue sign on the ground to ensure hikers find the route.

The route starts out briefly on a paved road and then after a few tenths of a miles leaves the road (there was an obvious sign) and heads upwards on a very rough and rocky dirt road. The first 0.93 miles is a lung-busting slog, but after that the trail levels out into a gradual ascent. Fortunately, the creek itself and a wide rocky beach comes into view at this transition point, so you have an excuse to stop and breath. I took a moment to dunk my head and my bandana in the refreshing water. Note that there are spur trails going off to the left. Stay right unless you want to detour to the creek itself.

Hikers lounge on the rocks at 0.93 miles

This place was a frozen hell in the winter.

From this point on the trail becomes wider, more even and soft, and wanders through mostly dying Lodgepole forest. There are a few meadows between here and the wilderness boundary (at 2 miles), but the trail is (on a hot day) mostly in the shade.

Walking along the more level trail and dying Lodgpole forest

Every meadow was filled with wildflowers.

Since I had only made to the wilderness boundary on my first trip I purposefully pressed on to see what the rest of the trail looked like. I was quite surprised how different the wilderness portion of the trail was. It is far more narrow, and weaves up, down, and all around trees, roots, and slippery slopes. There was at least 12 separate water crossings, which earlier in the season would have been an issue. As it was, only one large, debris-filled crossing was problematic. On the way back, I found an old crushed log bridge further up the slope that made the return trip easier but still a scramble. The forest also changes to be a more lush, not so dead, Fir forest.

Approaching the wilderness boundary

A rougher trail segment after crossing the boundary

There are more meadows in the 1.4 mile stretch between the wilderness boundary and the intersection with the Gore Range Trail. Like most of the trails I have hiked this summer, these open areas were filled with wildflowers. North Tenmile Creek seemed to have a plethora of Sego Lillies, which I have only seen in the foothills. I could not help but climb one such slope and take closeup photographs of the flowers with Uneva Peak in the background.

The roughest water crossing.  It is wider and more slippery than this picture implies.

Sego Lillies and blue skies dominated the upper portion of the trail.

The intersection with the Gore Range Trail is somewhat anticlimactic. Deep in the valley, it is just a small single track going from left to right. There is not even a log to sit on at this junction. I did not linger, but quickly turned around and zipped back down the trail.

The non-descript intersection with the Gore Range Trail

I have added North Tenmile Creek to my list of after work doggie outings since it is both close and steep. We have to get our workout in after all. While the flowers in the wilderness area were nice, the trail was much more difficult to travel in that area, so on a routine trip I will probably just turn around at the boundary. If you are visitor looking for a trail in the area, I would choose Lilly Pad Lakes for North Tenmile Creek. The later wanders through pleasant Aspen groves and has some nice views of Lake Dillon plus a defined destination.

Killdeer

The Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a shorebird who, like many Californians, has found the sunny habitats of Colorado permanently appealing.

The first time I saw a Killdeer in Colorado I almost ran home to check my meds. Having grown up on the beach I knew where these birds belonged and it was not in a gravel field in the middle of State in the middle of the country. Alas, since that psychologically rending day, I have learned that shore birds, and the Killdeer in particular, are quite common in Colorado.

The Killdeer is a common plover that is immediately identifiable by the 3 black neck rings around its neck. While typically a shore bird, it can live far from water. This specimen was in large field of our local dog park. I caught it on film by accident. Even with a 500 mm lens, this bird was so far away and so skittish that I never got very close. That is why these photos are so grainy.

The hot gravel of the dog park where I saw this specimen would seem very uninviting, but this Killdeer obviously found it a great place for a nest.

The Killdeer is famous for its broken wing act, which they put on when anyone gets too close to their nest. By the time I was within 50 yards of this specimen it started flexing its wings, but never went into the full act before simply flying away.

Showing off or fanning its underside to beat the heat. I guess we will never know.

Mt. Royal

Distance: 3.74 miles (saddle with large cairn), 4.2 miles (upper summit), 4.7 miles round trip (lower summit)
Elevation: 9,122 ft-10,502 ft (upper summit) - 10,385 ft (lower summit)
Elevation Gain: 1,380 ft (net), 1,652 ft (cumulative)
Date Hiked: 4 July 2011
Dogs: Off leash
Bathrooms at the trailhead: port-o-let

The view of Lake Dillon and the Continental Divide from the lower summit on Mt. Royal

Mt. Royal is a wickedly steep hike to a small "bump" on the far northern extent of the Tenmile Range. Further up the trail is Mt. Victoria and further still is the summit of Peak 1 the first real summit in the Tenmile Range. The views from this Bristlecone Pine encrusted promontory are what make it so popular with the locals. I did this hike on the 4th of July when most of locals should have been watching the parade in Frisco. Instead, many of them were on the trail with me. I suspect that even mid-week, this trail will be popular.

Crossing the Blue River right before the bike path

The bike path looks empty. There were in fact many cyclists enjoying the holiday.

The route up Mt. Royal begins at the 2nd Frisco (going west). There is a relatively large parking area just over the bridge but this lot also serves the Breckenridge to Vail bike path, so plan accordingly.

The trailhead

Typical early trail segment

The first part of the route is totally flat and along the bike path itself. The official trailhead for Mt. Royal, at 0.43 miles, is very obvious. It contains a kiosk and the trail itself is visible heading up the hillside.

Looking back on Frisco and Buffalo Mountain beyond

The hillsides surrounding the trail were clogged with what I believe is Red Elderberry. The sickly sweet smell from all the flowers was actually overpowering.

After one mile and a relatively gentle ascent, the route reaches Masontown, the site of an old mining town wiped out by an avalanche in 1926. This is a destination in itself for those who want a shorter outing. While nothing spectacular itself, the route, particularly in the fall, is very pretty.

Only a few junks of metal and wood mark the location of Masontown.

Mt. Guyot and Mt. Baldy from an upper trail viewpoint

Beyond Masontown, the route begins to climb steeply in a zigzag pattern with most of the zigs being straight up. By the time the trail reaches the beginning of the final zag at 1.72 miles, the hiker has gained an additional 728 ft in only 0.72 miles for a total elevation gain thus far of 1,092 ft. Most of this occurs in one very steep, 60° segment. This portion of the trail is so steep that I found it very difficult to find a pace I could keep without having to stop frequently to breath. Not only that, but I found myself grabbing onto small Aspen trunks along the way to steady myself and to keep myself from sliding backwards. This is like the first mile on the route to Mt. Sniktau. At least at least on that trail the views were stunning, so you wanted to stop and look about.  This route is in the trees so there is less of an incentive.

This upper trail segment is steeper than this picture makes out

The junction. Mt. Royal is to the right, Mt. Victoria is straight ahead.

At the top of this steep section, the trail splits with the route going up Mt. Victoria going straight ahead and the route going to Mt. Royal taking a sharp right. There is nothing to mark this junction but a small cairn in the dirt that would be hard to miss. It is better to just look for the split itself.

The saddle with its obvious cairn

When I reached this junction, I was walking with a local octogenarian who was easily beating me up the trail. He said the trail to Mt. Victoria was more of the same, a steep, slippery slope. Someone coming down mentioned there was still a lot of snow on the trail. This has been an amazing year for snowfall. Our hiking options thus far have been very limited.

The view looking west from the saddle. The gulch to the right is the route up North Tenmile Creek, which so far I have only done in winter.

Looking northwest along the ridge. The official summit is at the far point in the trees.

After the turn, the trail continues for only another 0.15 miles before reaching the saddle and the giant sized cairn that marks it. Many people stop there. On the far side of the cairn are nice views of I-70 and the cliffs surrounding it. To the east, one can see Grays and Torreys and bits of Lake Dillon. My new friend told that I should continue up the ridge to the official summit and then descend the other side and back up to a lower summit for the best views of the area. His advice was well worth taking.

The trunk of a dead Bristlecone, whose wood is very resistant to decay.

Another Bristlecone posing on the edge of the ridge

There are two trails that head up to the highest point. The left trail skirts the shear drop offs of the cliff face and wanders through a stand of twisted Bristlecone pines. The right hand trail is slightly further down the slope and by passes the summit. Take this trail on the way back.

Looking further west and mountains near Vail

The official summit is marked by the tall Fir tree more than the cairn, which is just barely visible in the shade.

The summit itself (at 2.09 miles) is just another small cairn hidden in the trees. Upon reaching it I had climbed 1,330 ft. The elevation in the map at the trailhead records this spot at 10,502 ft. I would not linger here too long although the view of Buffalo Mountain is nice from this vantage. Instead head down the hillside on the well worn trail. It descends a little over 200 ft to another saddle.

The start of the descent to the lower summit

Looking at I-70 from the saddle below the lower summit

At 2.32 miles is the lower summit, which is a large pile of rocks requiring judicious scrambling to reach the top. This is a little over 100 ft above the lower saddle. By the time I reached the top of the lower summit, I had climbed 1,435 ft. This rock pile is definitely worth the extra effort, and after that early 60° segment, seemed trivial.

Looking up at the lower summit

The lower summit

It did not take long to climb back up and over the summit and down to the first saddle. I lingered there while longer, sitting on a log with views of the precipice below. I was nervous about the decent figuring I would need to slide on my tail the entire way down. Fortunately, this was not necessary but I did find myself in a tight crouch with my feet in a sharp angle. Poles would be really handy here.

Looking at the upper summit from the lower with Mt. Victoria in the background

The view of Silverthorn from the lower summit. There were some large meadows on that hillside that I did not know existed.

Mt. Royal is a great training hike with some lovely views to reward the hiker. The day I did it, it was probably in the high 80°s even though I had started by 9am. I started sweating immediately and wished I had brought along more water and even a sport drink. The moral of the story is that this hike is harder than its distance and elevation gain would imply, so plan accordingly.

American Red Squirrel

An American Red Squirrel, a type of Pine Squirrel, lunches on a Lodgepole pine cone.

The squawk of the the American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is larger than life. One can't help but think that the harassing vitriol is coming from a much larger creature, like a Grizzly Bear with a wedgie. Alas it is just a highly territorial rodent. I discovered that if yearling squirrels don't stake out a territory by winter, they will die. No wonder they are so obnoxious. Their lives, literally, depend upon it.

This creature is one of three species of Pine Squirrel in North America and the only one of those three to live in Colorado. Also known as a Chickaree, it is almost exclusively a seed eater but occasionally will eat berries and leaves. Sounds like the perfect "granola".

Are those love handles or does this squirrel have a brood of suckling youngsters?

I have rarely gotten a good look at this squirrel because it has the uncanny knack of racing up and down tree trunks in a blur of motion. I came across this specimen while out Moose hunting (still have not caught one on film). She (are those teats in the photo above?) let me get quite close as she blissfully devoured a pine cone.

The other two species of squirrel in Colorado are the Fox Squirrel and Albert Squirrel.