CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

We watch the men's Olympic whitewater canoeing as we sip coffee.  I'm surprised there was no entry from the USA.

We motor up Evans Gulch toward Mosquito Pass (13,186 feet).  This is the pass that everybody came over to get to the mine fields.  The last 4 miles is 4WD only so we park the motor home and walk.  After about 2 miles we reach timber line.  We now know why it's called MOSQUITO Pass.  While we are taking a break we hear coyotes howling up ahead so Peggy reigns in the dogs and we turn around and head back.

Back at camp we decide to grill some of our elk steaks.  The neighbors are probably jealous of the aroma.  After supper we settle in to watch more of the Olympics.  We are enjoying some of the commercials almost as much as the games.

Evans Gulch toward Mosquito Pass

Mitch enjoying the great outdoors.

View towards Mosquito Pass.

I'm just too cute.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

We are enjoying this town and this weather so much that we decide to stay a few more days.  The locals complain about the heat when it gets up to 75 degrees.  We have had to use the heater every night we've been here.

We sit and enjoy watching the Olympic whitewater kayak competition on a man-made course.  It inspires Peggy to once again tackle the Mineral Belt Trail the hard way.  We endure a huge hail storm after dark.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

Peggy rides the Mineral Belt Trail again while I stay in camp and watch the Olympics.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

Peggy rides the Mineral Belt Trail in reverse, which is more difficult.  This evening we watch the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics.  I didn't know the Queen was a paratrooper.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

We take a ride on the Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad.  This RR has only 14 miles of track from the Climax Mines down to the smelters in Leadville.  We climb 1,000 feet to spectacular views of the Arkansas River Valley, Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive, Colorado's two highest peaks.

Train Depot

LC&S RR

CENTRAL COLORADO, ST. ELMO, CHALK CREEK CANYON

After coffee and cereal we head into St. Elmo at the foot of the Sawatch Range.  We were just here three weeks ago, but it's good to be back again.  This is a neat town and well attended by four-wheelers.  In fact we have a hard time finding a place to park.  We find a trail along the North Fork of Chalk Creek that is off limits to off-roaders.  We hike up about two miles until we are blocked by a marsh.  We try to exhaust the dogs by playing in the water.  We back track through Buena Vista and reclaim our site at the RV Corral in Leadville.

Hiking around St. Elmo

Sky Blue playing in the creek.

Dixie 'Doodlebug' retrieving a stick.

Mitch and Poudre playing.

Watched this American Dipper  (Cinclus mexicanus), also known as 

Water Quezl, working it's way up the creek.

CENTRAL COLORADO, NATHROP

After breakfast we head to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs for a bath.  They have two pools, one hot and one very hot and then there's the creek.  Peggy plays in the creek until she's overcome by other bathers.  After a gourmet meal at the lodge we look for a campsite but all the campgrounds are full so we end up parking at the entrance to the Mt. Antero trail.  This trail is used mostly by off roaders.

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs

CENTRAL COLORADO, BUENA VISTA

We wake up to peace and quiet.  That will turn to controlled chaos as soon as the rafters get here.  Today we are paddling the Numbers section of the Arkansas, a class 5 river but today it is only class 4 because of low water (375cfs).

Peggy has a wardrobe malfunction when Sky Blue chews through her bathing suit straps.  Luckily there is a clothing outfitter just around the corner.  Sky now owes Peggy $40.

Our guide is Adam.  He's been doing this for eight years.   As usual it's a joyful ride to the put-in.  We paddle a six-person, self-bailing raft, but there are only four of us.  That's good since the water is so low.  It's continuous class II until we get to the first Number rapid.  There are seven of them and each one requires a lot of maneuvering.  The guides even use rock bouncing as a technique.  There was a drop in #5 that would have swamped a canoe but the rest of the rapids would be a lot of fun for an open boat.  It would be great fun for someone in a kayak.

We take-out after six miles and load the raft on the trailer.  Back in town we bid our guide farewell and head for the county park so the dogs can play in the river.

(Picture may or may not follow.  My camera is not water-proof and I'm still looking for a place to develop the film from the non-digital, 'cheapo' water-proof camera I purchased for this trip.)

CENTRAL COLORADO, BUENA VISTA

Once more we have a front row seat watching all the rafters getting ready.  Tomorrow it will be our turn.

We unload the bikes and go geocaching.  We find seven.  Now it's off to the county park where we let the dogs play in the river.  After another steak dinner at Quincy's we take our favorite spot in front of the outfitter.

House built in 1885 with beautiful gardens.

Another 1885 house with beautiful gardens

Black-tailed deer are very comfortable in this town.

The locals say they are not afraid of people.

They also say they are eating their gardens.

CENTRAL COLORADO, BUENA VISTA

Peggy returns to the Mineral Belt trail so she can do the whole thing all at once.  I break camp and we turn around and head back to Buena Vista since the road over Tennessee Pass is closed.  Something about a sink hole consuming the road.

We turn off on the dirt road that goes to the put-in for the Numbers section of the Arkansas River.  We pay the park fee and take the dogs down to the water to play.  It's their first time in several days and they exhaust themselves.

We again park in front of the river outfitters in Buena Vista.  We go in side and sign on for a river raft trip on Tuesday.

These kayak planters were all over town.

Buffalo Joe

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

We peddle around town and visit the Tabor House and the House with the Eye.  We return to our favorite restaurant, The Golden Burro, for supper.

Peddling above 10,000 feet is a challenge.

Tabor House where Augusta and Horace Tabor lived.

House with an Eye museum.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

After breakfast we peddle uphill a mile and a half to where we left the Mineral Belt Trail yesterday.  It's more uphill through more mine tailings.  Because this area became a super fund site in 1980, a lot of the diggings have been graded and capped.  However there are still many headframes left in place.

We come to the literal high point of the trail and begin to coast.  Ahh... We cruise down through Oro, the very first mining town in Colorado.  This is where it all started, at the head of California Gulch.  There are a few headframes left but the town is completely gone.  We continue down a gentle grade to the point we started at three days ago.

We have a really big thunderstorm this afternoon so we stay home and have leftovers.

Mining reclamation.

Leadville

Super fund site with remnant of mining headframe.

More superfund, mining headframe and town of Leadville.

Oro, the first mining town in Colorado.

Leadville is also known as 'The Cloud City'.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

After breakfast at the Golden Burro we bike up to where we left off the Mineral Belt Trail.  It's still going uphill through all the old mine camps.  We stop and tour the Matchless mine which has quite a history.  It made Leadville the biggest boom town of all.  By 1880 the only town that was larger was Denver.

We cruise downhill through town and beat the afternoon storm back to the RV.  We have supper at the bar across the street.  It's called Pastime and it's the only one to survive on 2nd St.  There used to be 64 bars on this street.  2nd St. used to be the red light district since it was on the edge of town.

Matchless Mine, owned by Horace & Baby Doe Tabor.

Baby Doe Tabor's home at the mine after Horace died.  They went from
wealth to poverty.

Tailing's from the Matchless mine.

Head frame, entrance to the mine

Assayer's oven used to determine the percent of silver
per ton.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

It's been over a month since we have watched TV and this place has cable so we try to catch up.  I find I really haven't missed it that much.  We discover the Mineral Belt Trail, an 11.6 mile, paved bike path that circumnavigates the town.  We do the up hill part first and then cruise back down the main street.

 Leadville was the first town in Colorado where gold was discovered in 1860.  That soon gave out and then silver was discovered in 1880.  That's what really made this a boom town.   Doc Holliday came and lived here after his shoot-out at the OK Corral.  This town has more museums per capita than any other city in the U.S.

CENTRAL COLORADO, LEADVILLE

It's 44 degrees this morning but we don't complain knowing how hot it is in Virginia.  In Leadville we tour Harrison Avenue (main street).  At over 10,200 feet it is the highest incorporated town in America so the air is really thin making it hard to breath.  It sits in the shadow of Mt. Massive (14,421ft), the second highest peak in Colorado.

After Peggy picks up her mountain bike, we have our daily  afternoon rain shower.  We take a site at the RV Corral on the edge of town.  We will stay here three nights.

Historic building on main street.

Historic home in Leadville.

Mitch wondering why he is riding a bicycle.

CENTRAL COLORADO, INDEPENDENCE PASS TO LEADVILLE

Another bright sunny day in the Rocky Mountains.  We watch the antics of the golden-mantled ground squirrels and the chipmunks as we sip our morning coffee.  After breakfast we hike a trail toward Twin Peaks, but never get out of the aspens.

We motor west to Independence Pass (12,095ft).  After a short hike to a lookout we return to the motor home and watch the tourists for the rest of the morning.  This is a popular pass since it goes down to Aspen.  We don't want to go to Aspen so we turn around and head for Leadville.  This is another historic mining town (silver).  First we drop Peggy's bike off for a tune-up and then have supper at the Silver Dollar Saloon.  We take a tour through the historic Tabor Opera House which was built in just 100 days in 1879.  Some of it's notable performers were Wild Bill Hickok, Houdini, John Philip Sousa and Oscar Wilde.  Newspapers of the day acclaimed it to be the largest and best west of the Mississippi.

We take a forest service campsite near Turquoise Lake in the San Isabel National Forest and watch the Wapiti (elk) graze through the woods in front of us.

View from the picture window in our motor home.

Hiking in the aspens.

Just enjoying a beautiful day with my three wonderful dogs.

Beautiful Sky Blue in the aspen grove.

Mitch and Poudre at Independence Pass.

View from Independence Pass.

'What's up!' says the white-crowned sparrow.

Tabor Opera House built in 1879.

CENTRAL COLORADO, BUENA VISTA TO LAKE CREEK

This morning we wake up to a black-tailed deer drinking from a puddle beside the RV.  We're in the middle of town but he ambles along as though this is his chosen route.  We are now prepared for the controlled chaos in front of the rafting outfitters.  I thought I had seen it all until I see a rafter wearing a pair of platform tevas.  We enjoy the morning mayhem as we sip our coffee.  After the parking lot has cleared out we stroll up and down Main Street eating and shopping.  This is another town where it is difficult to find a weak cup of coffee.  Peggy buys a turquoise necklace at the farmers market.

We return to the county park along the Arkansas River to find it crowded on this Sunday morning.  We take a trail up river until we find a vacant spot.  We give the dogs a much needed workout.

Peggy visits yet one more yarn shop and finds out that we are the talk of the town because of the spinning wheel in our picture window.  We head north and take a campsite beside Lake Creek.  We are in the shadow of Mt. Elbert (14,433ft), the tallest peak in Colorado.  The afternoon rain shower causes the 'super freaks' in the site next to us to pack up and leave.

Black-tailed deer strolling through town.

Mitch waiting for that first cup of coffee at Mothers, a neighborhood bistro.

Mothers, a neighborhood bistro in Buena Vista

An interesting water fountain in Buena Vista