Having grabbed the grouse the evening before we had the option of setting off west, from our overnight stop at Walden, before breakfast. I took the bags out to the car and discovered it covered in a layer of snow. We headed off on the 14 to join up with the 40 just a few miles before the high-point of our journey at Rabbit Ears Pass, at close on 3000m. The further we went west the worse driving conditions became until just before the pass we were in an almost total white-out. We managed to join the end of a convoy of cars and got over the summit as the traffic management signs were saying passenger vehicles were required to fit snow chains! The worst of the weather subsided as we descend from the summit and we stopped for breakfast in Steamboat Springs. A walk along the river produced Bonaparte’s Gull, American Dipper and a Mink. A recce of a couple of grouse sites and an early check-in at our hotel in Craig gave us a relaxed afternoon and an opportunity to look at some of the local birding hotspots. Best sighting was of a Golden Eagle on it’s pylon nest.