Thursday, June 28, 2012

Back in Mile High

Its Thursday evening - June 28th.
We left C-Springs yesterday and made the short drive north to Golden,
Colorado - our home for Weds & Thursday nights.

My good friend Frank & his wife Sandy live here and is always the highlight
of our visit.   Frank and I go back almost 40 years and was the reason for my
move to Colorado back in the 70's.

We had dinner at Franks house last night and then today picked him up
for a day of reminiscing and hitting some of my old mountain haunts.

First on the agenda was a trip up Mt. Evans.
Mt. Evans is a scenic mountain about 25 miles west of Denver and rises to over
14,000 feet.  You can drive to the top on the narrow and twisting roads and on 
a clear day be rewarded with views that stretch out to forever.


On the way up it got cloudy and started to rain, snow, and lightning.


Mountain Goats dot the hillsides... and sometimes the roadways!


At the top we posed for some pictures while being snowed upon



You can see the road we took up way down below.

Back in my younger days I used to drive up near the top and then set off across the
high country backpacking for a few days.
I spent many a peaceful night on the slopes of Mt. Evans.


After our visit we decended back down to lower elevations (8,000' or so)
Had a nice lunch in Idaho Springs, then headed over to Central City and Blackhawk.

Central City, an old gold mining town, was to be the capital of Colorado but
soon the wives of the newly rich miners decided that they would rather live
down in Denver where the winters were much less severe.

So...  the money headed down to Denver and the rest is history.


Down a short gulch from Central City is the sister mining town of Blackhawk.

Blackhawk was a sleepy little town until the State in it's infinite wisdom
decided to turn it into a Gambling Destination.
Now it has 30 story hotels and casinos.

It was a culture shock for me.  The last time I was here I would pan for gold in
the stream.   Now all the gold is on the Blackjack table.


Heading back to Denver on I70 you pass the "Jetson House" (my name)
It is a futuristic house built on the side of a mountain overlooking the interstate.
The house was used in the filming of Woody Allens "Sleeper"

Tomorrow Paul arrives and we head out to Yellowstone and points north.
His flight arrives around 3:45pm so I plan on a 3 1/2hr drive to Rawlins, Wy
tomorrow and then 5 1/2hrs to Jackson, Wy on Saturday.

We are looking forward to his return visit and more fun in one of the greatest
places on the planet...

Yellowstone National Park.

See ya there!




3 comments:

  1. If you find time and are looking for a nice beer try Avery Brewing in Boulder and New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins. Some of my favorites are brewed here.

    Have a great trip up and while you are at Jellystone Park.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Update - I probably should not have watched the evening news but the fires have become a media circus. Prez goes, press reports that "USAF C-130's" are fighting the fire, and 100 "Army Firefighters" are on scene. When was the C-130 discontinued? Seen an Army Occupational Specialty "Firefighter" ever?

    We have a friend who is a smoke jumper (should see her in high heels) report is that Army fire fighters are not fighting fires..........

    Looking forward to continued reports as you trek North!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Please correct my error - C-130's yes. But wondering if they were converted to perform as slurry bombers or as aerial surveillance. I was thinking DC-3, C-47, etc.

    Worked in the boat yard today and sweated my butt off - still coller here than where you are.

    ReplyDelete

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