The Meadow Creek Trail (6.6 miles) and Gore Creek Trail (7.0 miles) join to form a 13.6 mile thru-hike from Frisco to Vail. The trails run through miles of high alpine meadows and scale two gorgeous passes en route - Eccles Pass (11,917') and Red Buffalo Pass (11,742'). Visitors will enjoy open alpine landscapes, excellent backcountry camping and arguably one of the best wildflower displays in the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area.

A hiker looks north from Eccles Pass (11,917') across the route to Red Buffalo Pass

The route to Red Buffalo Pass leads past two large alpine ponds, worthwhile destinations themselves

Indian Paintbrush belongs to a genus of 200 species of partially or fully parasitic plants that derive nourishment from the roots of other plants

View down the Meadow Creek Valley on the climb to Eccles Pass

The Gore Range Trail is named after Sir St. George Gore, an Irish nobleman who led a hunting expedition across the range in 1853

Wildflowers and snags fill open space in the thinning forests below Eccles Pass

The trail loses clarity but is intuitively followed on the final approach to Red Buffalo Pass

Dragonflies have nearly 360-degree vision

After a long, steady climb beside Meadow Creek, travel moderates through treeline across large alpine meadows below Eccles Pass

Wild mushrooms emerge in dark, moist areas by late summer, an important food source for bears as they prepare for hibernation

Sunny, moist slopes between Eccles and Red Buffalo passes support notoriously abundant wildflowers

A hiker climbs up to Red Buffalo Pass with Red Peak in the background

The descent from Red Buffalo Pass follows a very steep, winding course to the headwaters of Gore Creek

About 2/3 of Colorado's water drains east of the Continental Divide

The Gore Range Trail begins at Copper Mountain and ends in the Spring Creek area north of Green Mountain Reservoir

Oxygen percentage is the same at high elevation and sea level (21%); the problem for people is that there are many fewer molecules of everything at high elevation, including oxygen

Mushrooms grow large on the Gore Creek Trail

The trail to Eccles Pass approaches treeline

Alpine ponds create scenic landscapes and provide a lifeline for flora and fauna

Large stands of aspens flourish near the Gore Creek Trailhead