Everybody slept late and we went on a trail with two more Jeeps this afternoon (Bonnie & Ronny and Jim & Flo). We climbed to over 12,000 feet thru the Arrastra Gulch. Kathy drove up; Jimmy drove down. First, we took the lower turn to Hazelton Mountain but were unable to get to the top because of a broken down vehicle blocking the road; owner not present.
There are several private cabins along this trail. We stopped at the driveway of this one and just had to take this picture of our Mackie:
We all turned around and stopped at the old Aspen Mine and chipped at a few rocks. Found some quartz, crystal, and lots of iron pyrite, aka "fools gold."
Amazing where a little tree will start growing:
Next, we took the lower road to the Mayflower Mine (some may remember this as Jane's "Piece of Cake," but that's another story). Once again, we couldn't reach the final destination. This time because of a giant rock blocking the way. Ronny & Bonnie had gone up ahead They came back down and told Jim he wouldn't want to be attached to the rock (with his winch) if it started sliding down. Here they are coming back down:
Some of this old equipment is amazing. I cannot image how hard it was to get all the material up there to build the trams (1800s). Even more amazing is how many are still standing.
Note the tram structure perched on the rock; another one higher up:
We came back down and took the high trail that passed by the old Black Prince Mine. The buildings have mostly fallen down (constructed in 1915 to house the workers). Guess they didn't build as well then. We have pictures from previous years and the buildings were still intact. The mine itself has been closed off. We used to be able to walk inside of it. Looking down on Black Prince:
Onward and upward towards Gold Lake & the Little Giant Basin. Here we encountered the trail closed by snowdrifts. We turned around before we got to the snow as there were easier places to turn around. No way to get to the lake yet. Will try again later in the month as it's a beautiful mountain lake.
Going back down:
Just on the outside of town, we stopped at the city cemetery. It is very large and we only walked a very small portion of it today. These "interesting" tombstones are mixed in with more recent markers.
This was a tiny little stake marking an infant's grave:
Must of been a rough day:
On August 24, 1881, Town Marshall Ogsbury was murdered in the Diamond Saloon at 11th & Greene. A young kid known as the Black Kid or the Copper Colored Kid was apprehended and later lynched at the jail. He has a marker in the cemetery, but I have yet to find it. Will have to keep looking.
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