Another fun Ghost Town Run in the Books. For this years run, we headed down to the Spanish Peaks and Westcliff area. Driven by the Spanish Peaks many times, though never explored, Westcliff would also be new to me. The main attraction for this years Ghost Town Run was the Cloverdale mine- started in the 1920’s and operated till the ’60’s, the Cloverdale Mine is located in a fine valley outside Hillside, CO.
For some time now, i’ve been wanting to get back up to Black Hawk & Central City. Growing up, my Brother and I would visit Mom on the weekend when she lived up there. First in the Gilpin Hotel, then other parts of the towns after the fire. It was some wonderful memories not only of the Gilpin Hotel, but of Black Hawk and Central City. Remember there would be live music on the weekends ( Ron Berg was my Brothers favorite musician) at the hotel and my Brother and I had the run of the mill of the place. I had never been back to the Gilpin Hotel after it burned down (we were there the night of the fire) and after Mom left town, I never really spent much time in either towns. Sure, the Snow Pizza Run we have with the club is in the hills above Central City, but we always seem to cruse on through town and never stop.
Ever since Mom passed, the urge to get back up to these towns for a visit has seem to get stronger. Earlier in the year I thought it might be fun to go up to Black Hawk for a night with friends from the club for old times sake. Then Covid hit.
But thanks to a good pal from the club, I was able to get up there Friday for a fun day visit to both towns. We first stopped at the Gilpin Hotel for Lunch, then, through his efforts, got a tour of the Hotel. It has changed a lot since I was there last, main floor filled with slot machines and the hotel rooms on the second and third floors now a restaurant and office rooms for the staff. But I was glad to here that Lucille, the resident Ghost was still there (I tried to have a personal moment with Lucille and give her an update on Moms passing but the place was just to busy to do so).
After the tour of the Hotel, we drove up to Central City, as my friend had it set for us to meet the current Mayor of the town. It was fun to remissness about the time growing up in Black Hawk and Central City over a few beers with the Mayor. After, he gave us a personal tour of some of the vacant building in town. A real special treat for me and flattered my pal from the club took all the time to put this together.
Some absolute wonderful memories of the Gilpin Hotel as kids. Even the night it burned down is a strong memory- never did get to thank the fire fighter for saving our cat Bob.
Didn’t even now this existed, but a Submarine came out of these towns. A pretty cool story.
An absolute wonderful museum in Central City. Worth the visit.
A fun time hanging out with the Mayor of Central City while talking about the time spent growing up in both towns.
Getting a personal tour from the mayor of some of the vacant buildings. The red square in the roof was known as a “Glory Hole”. These two buldings were pretty dang awesome.
Apparently, per the Mayor, Bob Dylan played his first payed gig outside of the Twin Cities on this stage.
So my Dad and I just recently finished putting together a fun little book about my recent daily walks in Downtown Denver during the Stay at Home orders. For fifty days, from the time I was furloughed/let go from Enterprise to being brought back, I went out for a daily walk, camera in hand.
The front cover is a five color hand printed serigraph image.
Pretty dang flattered that the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library just bought a copy:)!
Hard to believe that it’s been ten years ( to the date) since i’ve gotten back into the wonderful Henry Mountains in SE Utah. Outside of Hanksville, the Henry’s were the last mountain range to be discovered and placed on a map of the US by Major Powell in 1869. Back in 2009/2010 I headed out to the Henry’s for the 4th of July weekend ( my pal Sean would join me in 2010). A great spot to ring in the holiday. Ten years later we headed back out to the Henry’s for another long 4th of July weekend. A most enjoyable time filled with great company. Hopefully it won’t be another ten years for my next visit:).
Jackson checking out the ford for the Fremont River. Back in 2007 this crossing fought us. Paul would end up burning out a power steering pump and had to use two winches to get out.
Definitely one of my top campsites.
Back at the magic bus.
Butch Cassidy:).
Some fantastic vistas from the Henry’s!
Felt great to be back in these mountains.
Passing through an old burn on Pennell Pass.
Enjoying a great sunset from one of my favorite perches.
Paul May always seems to be well setup:).
Almost to the summit of Mt. Ellen. One of three prominent peaks in Utah. Daniel and Anna stayed back to care for a tired pup.
Shadow of Mt. Ellen across the desert.
My pal Matt celebrating at the top of Mt. Ellen. We crested the summit right as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.
Moon rise group selfie. On the hike back to the rigs, we’d stop along the ridge line to watch the fireworks show from Hanksville.
Another productive summer weekend. Finding that Summer is definitely my jam:). Headed up to the Property Friday morning. After cleaning the 4runner I headed over to Grass Creek for a short hike, only to watch the clouds roll in, not the best place to be during a storm as it’s bit exposed. So spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and taking pics of the Wild Flowers that were out in force. That evening my Step Brother and Nephew showed up. My nephew requested to talk trucks with me a while back, but I decided it was better to go for a drive in a truck rather than talk about them. So we went for a “Bumpy Truck Ride” to the wilderness boundary. He was having a blast.
Woke up early the next morning and headed over to Georgetown to meet up with my pal Travis. We headed up our clubs adopt-a-trail Argentine Pass, making it to the old town site of Waldorf a little after 10 am. The pass itself is still snowed in near the top with some good sized drifts, probably be August before it opens up. The goal for this outing was to hike over to an old miners cabin across from Waldorf. Other than being a bit out of shape, was fun to finally check out after wondering about it for some 17 years. It was a beautiful day up on Argentine, and plan to be up there a lot this year.
A hill side along the road to the trail head for Grass Creek, it was covered in flowers.
In the main meadow of the property, looking South to Rosedale Peak and the Mt. Evans Wilderness.
The Columbines are out at the property, has to be the most I’ve seen up there.
My Nephew ( almost 3) was having a fun time during our “Bumpy Truck Ride” drive:).
At the old town site of Waldorf, once claimed to have the highest Post Office in the US at 11,666ft. Behind the rigs is the old miners cabin that I’ve been curious about for so long and we finally hiked out to on this outing.
Near the old cabin, you have some great views of Waldorf and the “East Argentine Mining District”. In the bowl in the upper right can be found the old Santiago Mill and Mine site.
The old miners cabin.
Travis had never been to the Vidler Tunnel, below Argentine Pass. So we stopped to check it out. It was originally intended to be a access tunnel for the steam trains to get to the mineral deposits on the West side of the pass. Was completed in 1968 and is 1.4 miles long. Mt. Wilcox is behind us.
Usually for the Summer Solstice/Fathers Day weekend I take the 4×4 club up to the cabin outside Evergreen, CO. But with the current state of things, we (the family) decided on no big groups for the property this year. So to make up for it, I put a little trip together to go down to Victor, CO to check out the area. It’s a place that has been on the radar for some time. Before leaving for the cabin, the new camera showed up, yeah, I was pretty dang excited.
Friday morning I headed out from the cabin and headed south to Deckers, then on to Canon City. After a slow start, we ended up having 8 rigs for the “Victor Run”. We headed up Phantom Canyon- remnants of the Florence and Cripple Creek Rail Road to get to Victor.
Victor itself reminded me of the days before gambling came into Black Hawk and Central City. From Cripple Creek, we headed down the Shelf Road to camp.
I heart summer.
A wet evening at the pond in the upper meadows.
Becoming one of my favorite spots to hang out.
With the wet weather, didn’t think a sunset would happen for this outing, Looked up from hanging out in the cabin to notice some light. Not fully in focus but enjoyed the color- looking down towards the farmhouse.
New camera gear. Canon EOS 5D MK4 with a 24-105 F4 L2 lens. Absolutely love.
Having fun with the new camera.
Making our way to Victor, CO via the Phantom Canyon Road. Remnants of the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad.
Typical scene for a club outing.
An original trestle from the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad.
The cool temps made an enjoyable drive along the old grade.
Weather sets in as we rolled into Victor.
Around Victor.
The Victor and Cripple Creek Narrow Gauge Railroad. A two foot narrow gauge line.
Headed up to the cabin again after work on Thursday (my Friday). Since were not doing any big groups at the property this year due to all that’s going on, decided to start doing a Social Distancing Hour at the property with one or two friends. My friend Travis aka t@Honeybadger joined me for an evening drive to the wilderness boundary. It was his first time visiting the property so was fun showing him around. Things are definitely turning green and looking like summer up there:).
Evening light on Mt. Evans.
Around the cabin.
In the Upper Meadows.
Always enjoy this view of Squaw Peak.
Chasing the setting sun to the wilderness boundary.
My friend Travis’s kiddo. He was having a fun time driving around the property.
Looking North to Squaw Peak.
A fine sunset!
Morning light on Mt. Evans.
Looking down on the ranch house.
Mt. Evans through the Evergreens.
Morning light.
Parked next to the repeater station for the Fire Department.
Haven’t made much progress on the blog since being back to work, but have been working on a book project with my Dad. It’s about an Isolated Denver during the Stay-at-Home orders and my daily walks downtown. Were putting a book together with my images. This will be the front cover as well as a poster- all silk screen printing. Will post more on the book when we get it printed.
This past Thursday, after my first full week back to work, I headed up to the cabin for the evening. Sure felt nice to spend the night up there with the cooler temps. My pal Dan joined me for a evening drive to the wilderness boundary with Mt. Evans (practicing social distancing of course). We got to enjoy a great sunset before heading back to the cabin. Looking forward to being able to get out more and summer!
On the main service road into the property.
Some great clouds over Mt. Evans. Always my favorite view in CO.
Looking North towards Squaw Peak (upper left).
Evening light through the Aspens- views from the porch of our cabin.
Enjoying a evening drive in the upper portions of the property.
Enjoying the evening light in the upper meadows. Almost to the Wilderness Boundary.
Sunset views from the boundary with Mt. Evans Wilderness.
End of the road and about as remote as one can get for an hour and a half drive from Downtown Denver.
A great way to end the work week!
These guys seemed to be pretty friendly when the camera came out.
I’ve been stuck at home not working for the past 50 days. The 24th of March being my last day of work and one day before the “Stay at Home” orders were issued for Colorado. Sure, i’d go out every day to take my walk and take pictures of an empty downtown, but it wasn’t getting out like i’m used to ( and probably most of Colorado). So, when things started lifting for the state and I got the clear from my pal Jeremiah (I could only come down if I didn’t show symptoms and practiced social distancing/proper face mask etc), I headed out of Denver to hang out with Jeremiah and the crew at Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers. Boy did it feel good to get out of town!
I’ve known Jeremiah for almost 20 years. We first crossed paths at Cruise Moab way back in 2002. Dave “Red Fox” Brown was leading the Saturday run on the “Behind the Rocks” trail. Jeremiah and Mark helped spot me through most of the difficult lines. Since then, i’ve managed to spend a lot of time hanging out at the shop, whether getting work done on the rig or just catching up. Getting down there this past week was just what I needed. A good recharge before getting back to work. As always, thanks for the hospitality Jeremiah and crew!:)
When heading down to the shop from Denver, it’s always fun to go over McClure Pass. Seems the further from Carbondale you get, the less traveled it is. Plus, it puts you right at the shop in Orchard City. When I went over the pass on Sunday, the Aspens were really green.
Exploring a side road near the top of McClure Pass. Looking southwest towards Marble.
I got to the shop late Sunday evening. Everyone was gone except for Jason- the shop manager. He left the shop open for me after dinner (thanks for the tacos!). Just like old times, taking pictures of the shop late at night. Apparently this FJ40 can do 120mph down the highway- a requirement from the customer.
Another Patina FJ40 build.
Monday morning in the shop. One thing i’ve come to realize is that Jeremiah always seems to be on the phone:).
Dave and Roy taking out the engine of the Patina build so Roy can start mocking up brake lines.
Loved this shot of Dave and Roy.
Randy prepping the frame of another body off restoration FJ40.
FJ62 nearing completion. Dave installs a dual swing out bumper made by the shop.
Yard candy.
Shop projects.
Dave just about finished with the rear bumper for the FJ62.
With the tub of the FJ40 on the frame, Randy makes progress on the brake system.
Dave and Bryan prep a K9 series roof rack from Equipt Expedition Outfitters in Salt Lake City. Another good friend from the Land Cruiser community.
Checking out the FJ40 row in the yard. While snapping pics on the ground, almost fell asleep in the afternoon sun.
Sunset over the shop.
Every morning the team looks over the projects and makes plans for the day.
Brake work on a FJ60.
A clean FJ40 finished and just about ready for the customer.
A stage two restoration build on a 100 series Land Cruiser (everything but the body comes off).
Randy building some brake lines for a FJ45 Land Cruiser.
Having fun in the FJ40 row again:).
Multiple FJ40’s in different stages of restoration.
Another shot of the 100 series Land Cruiser restoration that’s near completion. Slee Off Road front bumper ( ARB rear dual swing out bumper) and a matt black finish.
Larry getting the FJ62 cleaned up.
Jeremiah had me take the FJ62 out to get some pics since it was in the finished stages of the build. Such a clean cruiser!
I planned on starting the drive home Tuesday night with the thoughts of staying at Rowdy Lake ( my pal Treeroot and I ended up staying there when I picked up my current 3rd gen runner from Bob at Proffitt’s back in 2017), but Jeremiah invited me up to the house for the evening. It was hard to say no, and a much needed relaxing evening with good friends. Thank you for the great dinner and company Jeremiah and Chandra!
View from Jeremiah and Chandra’s house above Sapinaro, CO and Blue Mesa Resevior.
