Kind Of Whiney
Here's one more observation, but it doesn't necessarily have to do with just riding the Rabbit Ears area. There's an interesting thing about us snowmobilers. There was only 6.5 feet in the Rabbit Ears area during our February, 2010 ride. Only 6.5 feet instead of the usual 10 feet Rabbit Ears has at this time of year. We may pine for more snow, but 6.5 feet is a pretty good amount.
But the snow conditions were good, especially considering what other areas in the West were experiencing and that was less than 6.5 feet. The snow was the deepest and the best in the trees, which was a good place to be on our first day of riding Rabbit Ears.
One reason we all like deep snow is it tends to help disperse the crowds more. That means not everyone is forced to ride a handful of areas where the only deep snow might be. Frequent storms also help to cover old tracks, a nice thing for a place like Rabbit Ears which sees a lot of traffic. Yes, the trails were beat up and the snow off trail tracked up close to the parking areas, but we've never been ones to stay close to the truck anyway so off we went.
On day one of our ride on Rabbit Ears, we rode north of U.S. Highway 40 while heading south of the highway on day two. It snowed much of the first day, albeit lightly, but the bigger issue was flat light because the clouds just hung on the mountain. So we stuck to the trees. We did go up to Rabbit Ears Peak (10,654 feet) but since we were in the clouds the view wasn't what we were hoping. This day would end up being more a day to discover and explore rather than to sightsee.
We rode the groomed trail (1A) out of the Muddy Creek parking area for a short way before peeling off and heading cross country toward Rabbit Ears. 1A, also known as the Wyoming Trail, follows the Continental Divide all the way to Buffalo Pass and Summit Lake. The groomed trail splits here, going west to Dry Lake and east down to Grizzly Creek. The entire length from Dry Lake trailhead to the parking area near Grizzly Creek is on Buffalo Pass Road. The Dry Lake trailhead is accessed from Steamboat Springs and the Grizzly Creek parking area from Walden via Highway 124 and Highway 14 West. Not far from where you park on the Grizzly Creek side, the groomed trail along Buffalo Pass Road connects with another groomed trail (1F) that leads back south to Rabbit Ears Pass.
If you are interested on getting grooming updates for the trails here-or anywhere in Colorado for that matter-check out the Colorado Snowmobile Association's website www.snowmobilecolo.com. The trail grooming section is updated regularly during the winter season so you can always be up to date on which trails were groomed.