One More Week
October 10, 2008
One of the things that I want out of my travels around the country is to see, to do, to experience, and feel new things. This summer I have done all of those things. The only problem is that they have not been the type that I would call desirable. Earlier I told you about delays of about five weeks in California. Now I will be able to tell you about a delay of even longer here in Colorado. My mother in law had to undergo "a procedure." At least that is what some of the nurses call it. The rest of us call it a mastectomy for cancer. She was in the hospital only overnight and seemed to be doing great. Erma must have been jealous because three days later she developed pneumonia. She spent two nights in a different hospital. I was very fortunate to stay healthy and was able to care for them at home. After three weeks Helen developed a little redness in the incision area and was put on antibiotics. On the day we were going to get back on the road the redness was very pronounced. She was back in the hospital that afternoon on heavy antibiotics and spent a couple weeks in a rehab so that the antibiotics could continue. We could delay traveling without any problems. This is a summer that I have said we can stay "One More Week" at least a dozen times. We are hoping that soon we will be able to say that our health is okay and our mechanical problems are fixed and we see this area in the rear view mirror.
ABANDONED MILL BUILDING NEAR ALMA, COLORADO
In the back country of Colorado, along the unpaved roads, and perhaps up a high clearance vehicle trail is often a reminder of the history that happened here. Everyone has heard of the '49ers that were in the gold rush to California. This overshadowed the '59ers that stampeded to Colorado. "Pikes Peak or Bust." is the slogan that is remembered from that year, after gold was discovered in 1858 in a creek near Denver. As gold was located in different areas there were several mini-gold rushes into Colorado. The last major gold rush in the lower 48 states was to the Cripple Creek and Victor mining district in 1893. Many areas were stripped of all timber to be used as building material or as firewood to run steam boilers. Today most of the old trees in the mining areas are about a hundred years. In abandoned mill buildings like this one there is often equipment that gives an indication of how the gold and silver was extracted from the ore. There are also locations that only the foundations of buildings are left to tell of the efforts of the miners and their sparse living conditions. Most of the small mining towns around that once were very up to date, by the standards of the time, are gone or have been changed so much that the history they knew is lost to condominiums and paved roads. Very near this mill on an extremely steep slope are other mining structures that are mind boggling. The average hiker would have a very difficult time carrying a backpack up to it and the miners of the late 1800's were able to build a couple 30x70 foot (estimated) buildings and fill them with tons of equipment to process ore and then have them survive the ravages of a hundred years of weathering. I will never cease to be amazed by the abilities of our ancestors. I wonder how well we would do if transported to that time.
In the back country of Colorado, along the unpaved roads, and perhaps up a high clearance vehicle trail is often a reminder of the history that happened here. Everyone has heard of the '49ers that were in the gold rush to California. This overshadowed the '59ers that stampeded to Colorado. "Pikes Peak or Bust." is the slogan that is remembered from that year, after gold was discovered in 1858 in a creek near Denver. As gold was located in different areas there were several mini-gold rushes into Colorado. The last major gold rush in the lower 48 states was to the Cripple Creek and Victor mining district in 1893. Many areas were stripped of all timber to be used as building material or as firewood to run steam boilers. Today most of the old trees in the mining areas are about a hundred years. In abandoned mill buildings like this one there is often equipment that gives an indication of how the gold and silver was extracted from the ore. There are also locations that only the foundations of buildings are left to tell of the efforts of the miners and their sparse living conditions. Most of the small mining towns around that once were very up to date, by the standards of the time, are gone or have been changed so much that the history they knew is lost to condominiums and paved roads. Very near this mill on an extremely steep slope are other mining structures that are mind boggling. The average hiker would have a very difficult time carrying a backpack up to it and the miners of the late 1800's were able to build a couple 30x70 foot (estimated) buildings and fill them with tons of equipment to process ore and then have them survive the ravages of a hundred years of weathering. I will never cease to be amazed by the abilities of our ancestors. I wonder how well we would do if transported to that time.
AUTUMN COLORS NEAR THE GHOST TOWN OF ST. ELMO
Since I have been in Colorado for many years and I have spent a couple autumns following the seasonal change of color from the north to the south I am asked where the best autumn colors can be found. "Are the best ones in Colorado or are those along the east coast the best?" That is one of those questions that does not have an absolute answer. With the hardwood trees of many kinds in the forests that are in the mountains and valleys of the East there is a surprising variety of color. There is a mixture of shades of color that range from from orange-brown to reddish-purple. Many hillsides have a complex pattern of all the colors among the greens that have not yet changed. It looks like a giant artist has used the slopes to clean his brushes. On the other hand Colorado has brilliant yellows that cover the whole hillside like a giant cloth woven from gold threads. So the real answer has to be found within your individual preference. Either type of fall color will evoke a feeling of awe when the road you are traveling turns around a corner and suddenly there is a new hillside or valley laid out before you in all its glory. I have run into a situation that seems to universal wherever I happen to be. I will almost without fail talk to the local people about the color and hear this, "You should have been here last year. The colors were so much better." About the only exception to that statement has been when I should have been there two years before. I guess that I need to travel everywhere every years. In fact that sounds like a good idea to me. All I have to do is figure out how to accomplish the task.
HANGING LAKE NEAR GLENWOOD SPRINGS
Along I-70 in Glenwood Canyon there is a trail that heads up along the side of Dead Horse Creek that is very popular to hikers of Colorado and tourists. The trail is 1.2 miles in length and rises a thousand and twenty foot. At the end of the trail is a hanging lake. It was formed when limestone dissolved by the stream was deposited on rocks and/or logs to form a very fragile dam of travertine. The numerous small falls that go into the lake, the trout in the lake and the surrounding cliffs make it a beautiful place to visit. Just above the lake a few hundred feet further at the end of the trail is a cliff that has a hole in it that the majority of the stream water flows through. It is called spouting rock. It too is an area of unexcelled beauty. There is an area that people can go behind the falls, which is a neat thing to do. During the winter the water of the falls freezes into a hollow column that may at times reach entirely to the cliff opening which is at least forty foot high. In the summer the hike takes about an hour, and of course in winter it takes a bit longer. It is worth the time and effort no matter the time of year. It is also worthwhile to take a lot longer and enjoy the sound of the stream, the birds and the wind in the trees. The views are spectacular in every season and especially during the autumn.
Our plan again is to leave Colorado next Thursday and go to South Dakota and then work our way back to Mission Texas for the winter. We will not be there until the first of December.
Till later this is Doug of
Peace On The Road
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