South West Colorado road trip

This posting is a couple weeks late but I got busy and I've been slow getting the photos down loaded off the cameras. I work construction management and finished up and turned over a job at the end of August and was to start a new one right away but the permits got held up for a couple of weeks. So on a quick decision, the wife was able to take a week off and so, on Friday we made up the trip route. We had been seeing a lot of photos on the net from the Colorado 'All-4-Fun' week back in the start of August and had talked that 'wheeling' on those tall mountain passes would be neat to do...so we packed and got ready on Saturday & Sunday and left on Monday morning for a 6 day 'road trip' to Southwest Colorado to explore the big mountains and beauty of that region.

1880's silver mine site at the edge of main street of Rico. It's neat how well preserved all or most of the 1800's buildings and mines are through out Colorado.

Spent the first night in Cortez and then headed over to Telluride and went up one side road to the old mine site of Alta, still some well preserved old buildings.

I love following the history of these old sites and loved that they do this at a lot of these old mines and ghost towns.

Lunch break at Alta lake. near the mine site and WHAT a sitting for a picnic lunch at over 12,000 foot elevation... this is the life for a pair of desert rats!!!

The inner basin around from Alta, site of the Gold King mine, such beauty, we could spend all day sitting and staring at the landscape!

Headed out of Telluride up and over Imogene Pass to Ouray. This is a short 'tunnel' along the way above Telluride.

This is the view at the above 'tunnel' looking at the Bridal Veil falls, the powerhouse and Black Bear Pass road.(the rolled over jeep had just happened a few days earlier on that area)

The mine site of 'Tomboy' above Telluride starting to go back into the soil as time moves on

The sign telling about the riches of the old mining days.

nice! looks like it was a great trip!

looks like a great trip. I need to get up there again one of these days

Southwest Colorado part 2

Continuing on to the top of Imogene Pass at 13,114 ft. it the second highest drivable mountain pass in Colorado

Being a gear head... I had to go do a climb up to a old mine site to see what the piece of equipment was...

Coming from the desert, it was neat to see all the creeks and waterfalls though out the whole trip, beauty around every corner.

Spend the night in Ouray, the whole town is 50 to 100 buildings all built in the 1880's and looking good!

After some asphalt time and seeing Montrose and the Black Canyon NP, we headed back into the mountains and spent the night in Lake City and my wife drove Engineer Pass road. This is an old town site along the way with this fine hand cut log house from 1887 and still in great shape.

She was happy that she concurred the pass!!! Another almost 13,000 foot pass.

Down the back side of Engineer pass in to the ghost town of Animas Forks and a huge mine milling building still standing

Heading up and over California Pass and couldn't pass up some more mine equipment, a boiler, holding up well in the exposed weather.

On top of the Calif. pass and looking down on Como lake on the way up to Hurricane Pass, both at 12,000 feet!

Heading toward Corkscrew pass and Gulch where we met a red JK coming down from Corkscrew pass at a narrow shelf road that had a WayaLife windshield banner...I hollered a 'HI' at him as he passed, but he kept on driving...

Coming out of Corkscrew and heading to Silverton and saw this head frame for the famed 'Yankee girl' mine which was one of the richest silver mines in the country... the silver 'ore' was so pure that it by passed the crushing mill and went straight to the processing mill.

in all.... the trip was great, the wife loved it, and we really enjoyed the beauty of the high mountains and the neat 'window' of the mining history!!!