The stats here prove it was a Rocky Mountain High kind of day.
Sunny, clear skies and we climbed to our highest elevation of 12,688 ft.
Some really cool pictures follow,
Our goal today was to do the loop up to American Mountain a.ka. Flag Mountain. It's about a 6 hour run round trip..
It's quite a ride so hang on,...
First stop on the way up was this old gold mining camp.
Pretty neat to see the old equipment still in place.
Another interesting spot along the way was this Lily Pond...
That's right...the entire lake is covered in Lily Pads..
now go figure how that happens.
And another mining camp, this one had several pieces of equipment and appears it was steam powered from the looks of the boiler.
Also had 10-12 log cabins surrounding the area...all of which were in about the same shape.
Lunch time at this beautiful lake along the way to American Mountain.
Christine fixed some sandwiches, chips, etc.
Nothin' better than a lunch at the lake.
This piece of trial was along an old county road so it's a popular spot for fishing and remote camping.
Now let's get on up that mountain in the background.
Just another vista shot along the way.
We stopped here for a Pee beak and these deer in the center of the picture were very curious.
We watched while they watched for about 15 minutes..
They appear to be Mule Deer from the size of their ears.
We have come upon a view of our destination for today.
This is a jaw dropping sight while motoring up the trail just knowing you are going to get there somehow.
We are getting closer, Jimmy and Alison have already reached the flag.
We piddled around taking pics and videos and he got the jump on us,
We are almost in shouting distance. There is a canyon between us. A big'un.
Top of American Mountain....flag is maintained with donations and is there all season.
This is the highlight of our trip to Colorado.
We hope we can return some day and do more of the trails.
If only you could see the sheer drop offs surrounding these two RZR's you would fully understand the magnitude of the summit.
Only in America.....
Maybe this shot will help...
if not the video below will do the trick.
I looked back and took this shot as we were headed back down the rocky trail.
Just the Flag and a donation box on the summit as we leave.
Very moving experience.....
As we move on down the mountain the trail forks off and goes thru a valley that must have been very active it the 1800's.
We come along this old gold mine and I start exploring the area.
I found a great spot for Curly, Larry, and Moe to get their pictures taken.
Let's see what else we can find.
Another steam operated mine from the looks of the boiler tank buried in timbers.
And while I am taking pictures and tripping over timbers and old machinery Jimmy wanders off and discovers the actual mine shaft.
It was two thirds buried in rock and dirt that had washed down the hill but a look inside revealed the structure and support timbers that are still intact.
Well, it's getting close to supper time and we are still several miles from camp. So once we hit the county road it's ( Katy Bar the Door ) cause we are hungry.
For this next video grab some popcorn, a Coca-cola, and hang on.....
No comments:
Post a Comment