<– Day 44 – Mon. May 25th: Pioneer Village | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 46 – Wed. May 27th: Georgetown Loop Train –>
Is it wrong to be taking a selfie of our selfie?
On Tuesday, we headed into the Rocky Mountains. We were barely in the jeep a few minutes before spotting a M-677 and an FC cab being towed westward from Denver on I-70. I guess it means that this M-677 is sold! During the subsequent hour of driving toward Fairplay, Colorado, we saw a CJ-5, a truck, a CJ-3B, a CJ-2A, and others. It was a good day for jeep-sight seeing!
Today we drove from Golden, Colorado, to Dillon, Colorado.
Our first destination today was South Park City in Fairplay, Colorado. It’s a recreated 1880s mining town with more than 30 antique buildings. We pretty much had the run of the place to ourselves, with a cat as a guide through much of it. He seemed to enjoy the company. If you like old towns, then you will enjoy this one, too.
There were two long boardwalks on each side of Main street.
David at the Assay office; holding some rocks seemed like the thing to do.
Inside of the Assay office. There was lots of stuff to examine!
Of course she had to ring the bell (and it did work).
Shot of main street.
This mine example included a walk-through hard rock mine, though it was a mockup and not original.
After we were finished with South Park City, we spotted this nod to the comedy series South Park. We couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, we were missing a couple characters.
Following Fairplay, we drove to Leadville, Colorado, where my great great grandfather built the Billing and Eilers smelter in 1879. He and Billing sold the smelter three years later after growing tired of the 10,000 ft elevation and poor weather. Both made fortunes even in that short time. The smelter was purchased by their friend August Meyer (who happened to be the man who suggested the name Leadville for the town back in the early 1880s). August changed the name to the Arkansas Valley Smelter, which continued to run long after all the other smelters were shutdown in the area.
In Leadville we walked the old streets of the mining town. It still retains a lot of old character, though its 24-hour boomtown ways of 1880 are far behind it.
Leadville’s main street
Ann liked the Pabst Blue Ribbon sign.
We didn’t get a chance to go inside this wild west saloon.
Our goal in Leadville was to visit the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. There were some neat exhibits, including walk-through coal and hardrock mines. Despite some good exhibits, it lacked any information about the importance of smelting and refining to the mining industry in Leadville. There also was no overview about how Leadville was transformed from an old placer mining area into lead-silver mining center.
On our way out of Leadville, we were treated to one last jeep for the day:
Except for a short drive down the hill to our hotel in Dillon, that was it for Tuesday.
On Wednesday, I go solo for a few hours. I will be riding a train out of Silver Plume, Colorado, and exploring an 1871 lead-silver mine tunnel (not an Ann-friendly experience).
<– Day 44 – Mon. May 25th: Pioneer Village | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 46 – Wed. May 27th: Georgetown Loop Train –>