Before I get into this latest post I have a comment about photos. In the past I have sometime put galleries at the end of my posts. The drawback to this practice is these photos tend to get lost the older the post is.
I have modified my Galleries page to include more photos, broken down into collections by topic or by event, such as my ATV outings. I will still include photos in my posts, but will also include a link to a gallery that will have more photos of that trip or event. It will be easier for anyone, myself included, to revisit photos I took months or weeks before without having to wander through old blog posts.
My latest outing was taken this past Sunday, September 2nd. I was again in the Ouray area, this time traveling the Engineer Pass Road.
I had picked up some used luggage for The Griz, and so had extra space to store a raincoat, gloves, guide book, Canon camera, and a gas can as well as my cooler. Here I am at the start of the route which begins south of Ouray off Hwy 550:
Start of the Engineer Pass Road
About 3 miles up the road is this waterfall. (This photo is our current desktop.)
Engineer Pass waterfall
The other elements of a good trip, evidence of old mining activity and alpine flowers, are both represented in these next 2 photos:
Boilers at the San Juan Chief Mill near Mineral Point
Yellow asters (?) were bright spots along the trail
The day began clear, but – as usual – a chance of afternoon showers was in the forecast. I headed up the trail, stopping for photos of old mines, the waterfall, grazing domestic sheep, and just enjoying the mountain scenes. Fall colors are beginning to appear, a bit earlier than average but I was getting up to well over 12,000 feet in elevation, and the trees turn earlier at the higher elevations.
At the top: Engineer Pass
Pam asked me a question: Why do you enjoy these outings so much? In truth, it is a question difficult to answer.
I have always liked history and mechanical devices. (Just look at my toys!) Both are combined in the mining history of Colorado. The mid-1800s into the early 1900s was a dynamic time for the west, including Colorado, with road building, mining, towns forming, railroads being built. The ingenuity, hard work, and sometimes just plain luck these early pioneers exhibited makes me stop and think about how we got to where we are today.
Then again, maybe it’s just sitting with my back against an old wall, looking at the mountains across a wide valley, munching an apple, and enjoying the warm sunlight on my face.
My Dad loved the mountains, and one of my earliest memories is of a framed photo of Mt. Shasta, California. (I was born in the town of Mt. Shasta that sits in the mountain’s shadow.) This photo hung in every house we lived in, and is one of the few items I would like to get from my parent’s estate. Mt. Shasta is a snow-covered peak in northern California. Was mountain living imprinted on me when I was born? Pam is more comfortable near water. Perhaps it is not a coincidence; she was born near a river and grew up along the Mississippi.
In any event, I enjoy these outings a great deal, and hope to have many more of them.
Here is a link to my Engineer Mountain gallery. I hope you take a look at it. 31 photos in all.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
How did you get so close to the sheep?
The suspension bridge with a gate in the middle: that is not used, right?
Remember those little blue 3-ring binders with the yellow writing paper? You used to journal your travels with them. I am wondering if you are visiting some of the same places now. Or, was that the wrong side of the mountain?
Nice pics – I like the link with all pics in one viewing area.
Hopefully there’s an additional access point to the mentioned home-for-sale beyond the suspension bridge — carrying across food supplies would be daunting enough, not to mention moving furniture in-and-out, and attempting any crossing in mid-winter…
I appreciated the mining facilities detail — so much left behind to deteriorate. I imagine the cost of removal of the “iron” is greater than resale value.
Interesting boarding house construction — somewhat primitive but practical, though extremely cold in mid-winter. Easy to imagine what active mines were like, working 12-14 hour days (as there was little else to do), and infrequent “outings” into town.
A “wilder time” then — life & death had a different value, and everything had a much higher risk.
I doubt many of us would fair all that well if “transported” into the past — many of the skills that people of the time were “born into” have been lost with the advent of modern conveniences & lifestyle.
The mid-1800’s through early 1900’s were a much more dynamic time everywhere “west”. Even Wisconsin was considered “west” at the time — land to be claimed at $1.25 an acre, grain was “king” (along with lumber) in Wisconsin, before being replaced by corn & dairy products.
A lot of change over the past 150 years — even within the past 60 or so years that (we’ve) been a part of, there’s been considerable change…
well, i’m behind!
ouchie on the nose!
poor you 🙁
good they got it though!
you’ll have to post an unveiled pic–i’m sure it’ll be lovely 😉
glad the closing is still on
the details always get in the way of the fun stuff
still so excited for you guys!!
great pics and cool trips as always!
i think it’s awesome you get out and see so much
nice we get to follow along via your blog
ps–oh my goodness on that tractor tire!! makes me feel less depressed about needing tires on my car this fall