Creede, CO. Though not a “Ghost Town”, it won my heart. No ski mountains or other attractions. Just a simple old Colorado mining Town.
What a fantastic weekend out exploring new to me parts of Colorado with great friends from the club, even with the downpours. Somehow I’d never been to Creede yet, I fell in love instantly. To me, I feel Creede is what Colorado used to like….. To kick off the trip, we checked out the Bachelor Loop, with the Commodor Mine and Phoenix Falls being some of the highlights. The Commodor Mine operated from 1891-1976. Saturday, after a stop at the Underground Mining Museum (that was also hosting a International Scout gathering) we took a short drive and checked out Crystal Lake and Bristol Head (12,706ft). Spectacular views at the top of Bristol Head!
Some of my favorite images from this years “Ghost Town Run”.
First morning for the trip. Up early to watch the inversion roll in.
I headed up to the cabin this past Friday ( my Saturday). Hadn’t been up since the Solstice get together. Once on the property, I found that the loggers were working above the farmhouse, making there way towards the pond/upper meadows. This would actually be the first time since they started that I came across them while working. Excitedly, I headed straight to where they were at. After informing them who I was, I stood out of the way to take pics. It wasn’t long before they were having me taking pics of them working. So cool to watch those machines! Spent the rest of the day at the cabin, before ending the evening with a drive to the wilderness boundary.
Harbells
Loggers working away on the road to the pond/upper meadows
I headed up this past Friday ( 7/2/2021) to meet up with my pal Dan from the club for a morning ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. His girlfriend Nancy, work on the railroad and gives tours of the mines. The tour was fun. especially with Nancy giving it and the group seemed to click well.
Remnants of the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville Railroad, the Georgetown Loop is a 3ft narrow Gauge Line situated between the old mining towns of Georgetown (Silver Queen of the Rockies) and Silver Plume, CO. The two towns are two miles apart, yet it uses 3 miles of rail for the Georgetown Loop to get between the two. Definitely one of the highlights is the “Devils Gate Bridge”. A trestle crossing Clear Creek, far, far below.
A fun outing!
Ended up getting to Georgetown a bit early. Was nice to spend some time walking around town before it got busy.
About ready to leave the Georgetown/Devils Gate depot.
It felt great to be able to get back to having the club at the property to celebrate the Summer Solstice this year! Usually hosting the get together on or as close to the solstice as possible. With my Monday falling on Sunday for the work week, we meet up this past Friday night. Our property ( Indian Creek Park Ranch) is the last private land before Mt. Evans Wilderness. The “Upper Meadows” of the property ( heading South towards Rosedale) is where I always host the club for an evening campout. Every one started showing up in the evening after work and after getting settled in, we went for a drive around the property, ending at the wilderness boundary. On the way back to camp we ended up seeing a black bear run across the road- would be a first for me on the property! Was another fun Solstice get together on the property with friends from the 4×4 club:).
Golden Banner
Colorado Columbines at the cabin,
My most favorite view in CO keeps getting better thanks to all the logging.
After missing last years Train Trip due to Covid, I was excited to get back down to the Southern end of the San Luis Valley for some camping and a fantastic ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad ( my favorite!). We rode the train on Thursday, departing from Antonito, with a stop in Osier,- an old track maintenance town, for lunch ( highly recommend the meatloaf!) before returning back to the depot in Antonito. They weren’t running the busses this year due to Covid, so our normal trip from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO would have to wait a year. The rest of the long weekend was spent relaxing and chasing the train. One day we chased the Antonito train from Whiplash Curve to Osier and the other we chased the C&TS out of Chama to Osier using Apache Canyon ( with a fording of the Rio de Los Pinos River) to get to Osier. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect summer weather. The company was wonderful and the stars were out in force. I even had a little adventure on my way to camp after leaving work on Wednesday:). Here are some images from the trip. Enjoy!
After leaving work on Wednesday afternoon, I made my way to Antonito, but not without some excitement… For some reason I blew past my turn in San Luis, and didn’t notice it till I was a good half hour south of town (busy enjoying the views I guess). So on a whim, I took a detour though Mesita and the San Luis Hills. As I got close to Antonito, I came across fields full of Wild Iris. Excited, I pulled over to snap a few pics, only to slide off into the ditch ( shoulder was really soft). After a few failed attempts to extract myself, I called friends for help. After some time hanging out with the mosquitos, my friend Brian came down from camp and pulled me out. Funny thing was, I couldn’t us my new winch as there was nothing solid to anchor to. Finally rolled into camp around 8pm.
Fields of Wild Iris outside Antonito, CO.
If you look closely, you can see the swarms of mosquitos. Never seen so many!
I headed back up to the cabin this past Friday in hopes of befriending the loggers while they were working away on the property. Unfortunately I was to late in when I got up there as they were already done for the day. So instead spent some time wondering around where they are staging the logs to be loaded on to the trucks to be taken down to the mill in Canyon City. Later in the day, Two friends joined me that night at the cabin and after taking them for a drive to the wilderness boundary with Mt. Evans, we settled in for the evening next to the fireplace.
I had to send my 5DMK4 camera into the shop to get cleaned so I had to break out the 7D for this visit. Was fun shooting with the 7D again.
Staging area for the logs that are ready to be loaded onto the truck. They’ve been taking two fully loaded rigs a day down to the mills in Canyon City since they started.
The last time I had been up to the cabin was in March, well before Cruise Moab. So I headed up to the property this past Thursday night (5/13). It felt great to get back up there. Especially knowing that the logging operations have begun on to the property. We got a major grant from the Jefferson County Conservation District for the logging operations and so far they have about 150 acres completed. Pretty exciting stuff.
I tried top get to the Wilderness Boundary for the sunset from the pond but got turned back due to snow (great to see snow this late in May!). So headed back to the pond to catch the sunset before ending the night at the cabin. A most relaxing evening!
Had to stop and check out some of the logging equipment that was at the property.
Was having fun taking pics of the logging equipment. Might become a them for this summer:).
Man oh man, what a great time out in the Utah desert this past week!! After missing last year since Covid-19 canceled Cruise Moab, it felt really, really good to be out in the desert with friends, even if Cruise Moab was a toned down version ( no Vendor night, Raffle/Dinner and only a 140 vehicles registered). We always head out early for a little “Pre-Cruise Moab wanderings”. This year we ended up down in Beef Basin ( a favorite of mine) before doing the Lockhart Basin trail back to Moab. I headed out early and was able to get one of my favorite campsites in the basin and have two nights of solitude. Perfect way to start the trip! Friends rolled in on Sunday afternoon. It was fun to show them some sports around Beef Basin for a few days before heading out to do Lockhart Basin back to Moab. Lockhart was a bit harder than I remember ( last time we ran it was in 2009), but still a fun trail. For Cruise Moab, I rode along this year to focus on taking pics, doing Seven Mile Rim on Thursday and Hells Revenge on Saturday. These are some of the pics I took throughout the week (took over 600 pics). Will be working on a full report soon.
Enjoy!
Beef Basin and the Henry Mountains in the distance. A great view to be welcomed back after a 12hr drive from Downtown Denver.
Sunrise Saturday morning and my first full day back into Beef Basin. Didn’t see another soul the entire day:).
This past Saturday, my Dad and I drove down to Sapinero (Blue Mesa Reservoir) and back to pick up my 4runner from my friends at Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers. There located in Orchard City, CO, just outside Delta. To make things easier, lately I’ve been meeting Jeremiah (owner and longtime friend) at there place above Sapinero, CO. Dad joined me again for the trek down and back. It was a most enjoyable day. The light through South Park, as with the last few trips, was wonderful. Monarch Pass is always a beautiful drive. I was excited to get the 4runner back, as the crew at Proffitt’s installed a dual ARB air compressor. Something I’ve always wanted. I’ll do a write up on the install later.
I’ve been working on a logo design, with help from my Dad over the past few months. After finally getting a design we liked, I ordered stickers. They showed up this week and I’m pretty excited how they turned out. Just in time for the annual Spring fling in Moab, UT (Cruise Moab). The few nice days of weather that Denver has had has me excited to get out to the desert and hide away for a few days!
Great light while driving through South Park this past Saturday.
We stopped to take in the views of South Park (pulled off on a turn out near Camp of the Rockies)
Great views from Monarch Pass.
Felt good to have the 4runner back!
New logo! Ordered a bunch of stickers, just in time for Cruise Moab 2021.
Somehow, I made it to work this past Sunday. Always happy when the trains and shuttle buses are running on time. Sunday was when the blizzard of 2021 set in. I was the only production member to make it to work (three drivers kept me busy) that day. My manager Brad gave me a ride home after we shut things down early. Pena BLVRD had to be the worst I’ve ever seen it.
27+” at DIA.
Downtown: A good 12″.
Went for a walk around my apartment after getting home. Downtown can be so peaceful during these storms.
Millennium Bridge in the distance.
Have watched people take pics of these stairs ever since I’ve been downtown.
