Saturday, August 18, 2012

St. Elmo and Beyond


The WINs have moved on to Salida, CO, and one of our first activities was a 4-wheel drive trip over Tincup Pass, looping pack over Cottonwood Pass.

Our first stop was my favorite - the ghost town of St. Elmo.


Founded in 1880, 2,000 people settled here to mine silver and gold. One of the ladies is still here, although she seems a little stiff and needs some hair.


There's an outhouse behind each building -


And of course lots of rusty stuff.


The town is overrun with ground squirrels (like this one) and chipmunks who are very friendly.


We then continued up a rocky road to the top of Tincup Pass, 12154 feet above sea level.


Wheee! We're on top of the world!


The road going down the western side of the pass was even more rocky. Of course, I didn't get a picture of the worst spots because I was too busy holding on.


Finally, we got down to Mirror Lake, where the road got a lot better.


We stopped in the tiny town of Tincup for a snack.


And when we got back to the top of Cottonwood Pass, the road was paved.

All in all, a GREAT day!

8 comments:

  1. Love the ghost town pics. But you guys sure do find some rocky roads to travel. That view of the road is really great.

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  2. A great Loop... Love Tin Cup.
    Box Canyon Mark

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  3. Great new header pic with the new truck!

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  4. You folks find the most interesting places on the most awesome roads.

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  5. Looks like a great drive. Chuck and Carla have a jeep so maybe they will let us tag along. It was nice to meet you and some of the WINs. Hope our paths cross again sometime.

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  6. I too love your pictures of the ghost towns.

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  7. YOU cant beat Colorado for natural beauty...NO wonder my mom went for a visit last fall, maybe a month she said...SHE IS STILL THERE!!
    IF I were her I would never come back...
    Awesome landscapes Diana...love St Elmo...and did ya'll kayak In Mirror lake?

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  8. St. Elmo looks pretty cute - sorry we missed that even through the residents are stiff.

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