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Monday, September 7, 2026

Lakeside and Ghosts

48°f/9.8°C, light clouds. A few showers yesterday, but it was another nice day overall, while at home it's already 77°, but low humidity, which I am sure is much appreciated.

There is a large lake just a short walk from Sarah's house, which provides water for Boulder and other cities and towns. This year, because og the lack of snow last winter, the water level is 60 feet below normal. 


It is Sarah's big German Shepherd Glen's favorite place i think. He loves tge water, and actually had 2 walks to the lake Saturday to take a dip! Can you see the happy boy?


Because of the low water level, we found all sorts of odd men's. The town of Dillon used to be here, but that entire town was moved when the dam was constructed to create this lake. The town moved once before, in the late 1800's,  when the railroads were being built, because at their former location they would not have had rail service!


This shows the impact of the low water--- the resurfacing of an old roadside, and a long, long expanse of gravel.


The clouds were gorgeous,  signaling incoming rain.




Later in the day, we went into town to visit a rock shop. What a place! Larry had fun with a dinosaur outside.
 

Then on to this replica dredge boat for dinner. This boat is built on top of an original dredge boat that sank here. These boats were used to dredge the river for gold, and millions of dollars worth was pulled from the river and its banks back in tge mining heyday. While we were eating, it poured rain on one side of the boat, but the sun was shining on the other side! Crazy.


Our tour guide, Gail Westwood, awaited us after dinner. She told three stories right on this spot, of violent deaths that occurred around the boat. Those were not easy days for miners.


A stop at a former brothel, where two of the girls formed a suicide pact and took poison. One survived, and her ghost lingers, filled with guilt that her friend died and she didn't. 


Our group of 22 had a long walk, and I was so glad that Sarah's boyfriend Andy went to get the truck at the end so we didnt have to walk the mile and a half back. There were stops at a haunted store, a doctor's  office, a restaurant (where Andy once worked and experienced the ghost himself),


and last, the very haunted Brown Hotel. Appropriately, lightning kept flashing behind the house as we stood there hearing tales of the dark deeds that went on in this place, and that continue to occur. The Ghostbusters TV crew was here once, but i could find no episode filmed by them.. 




I tried to get a couple photos of the inside.


Outside the hotel, this big guy looked pretty fearsome. 


The hotel is now an Airbnb,  and can be rented for $3000 a night. There are beds for 14, so maybe it would ve worth it for a group of ghost hunters? Bit out of my budget.

You can read a good article about the tour and Gail Westwood here.

Then it was home, and another early bedtime as we were all pretty tired, but what a nice day it was.




Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Sunday, September 6, 2026

A Day in Town

56°f/13 3°C, a few clouds. Some rain and thunderstorms yesterday evening but didn't last long. 

We spent Friday exploring around the town of Breckenridge.

First up was a ride on the gondola that in winter months takes skiers to the lodges and ski lifts. At other times of the year, tourists ride up to see the views and enjoy the shops and play areas around the lodges.


We were hoping to see moose, but none were around.


At the top, the Norse God of snow is a fitting sculpture.



Later Larry and I went through the small town museum while Sarah, who is self-employed, worked at the library. I thought this window, with a screenwriter of how Breckenridge looked in its heyday, was pretty clever 


The next stop was the Barney Ford museum,
an interesting tour that told about the life of an emancipated slave who made his fortune, several times, in the West. What adventures he had!


Inside the house he once owned.


Our tour guide Cassi was excellent, weaving history with biography, and separating fact from fiction.


Across the street is an Artisan village, where we met Nicole, who is training in welding. She's only the second woman welder I have met. *The other is friend and poet Suzette Bradshaw, who welds sculptures).


An old troll from Norway greeted Larry.



A tea shop! 


So many teas!



Outside the tea shop we fell into conversation with Jim, who is biking from Banff, Canada to the end of the continental divide at the Mexican border. At 65, he's one fit individual! He told us he has biked all over the world. Amazing.


That's Joy of SOX, people. Which is not what I first thought!


Another troll lives in Breck---


And here he is! What a guy.




He was moved from his original location a few years ago, and now happily resides in the forest as its protector.


This little boy pushed his bike all the way up the trail, to stare in amazement at the giant. Kinda stole our hearts!


Then it was home for a delicious dinner, and an early bedtime. It was a fun day, lots of walking, and we slept like logs. But just look at this sunset.






Saturday, September 5, 2026

An Evening Drive

44°f /6.7°C here in Colorado this morning. Brrr! But clear and sunny. At home, 74°f and stormy. 

We went for a drive the other evening to see the sunset, and what a drive it was! Sarah suggested going to the top of Bald Mountain via Baldy Road.
I'm game for anything so off we went. Larry wasn't quite as keen but went along.

Bald Mountain is at 13, 690 feet elevation, and the road is rough, basically a crawl over rocks and large gravel, deep gullies and switchbacks so deep Sarah had to back up and get a better angle to make the turns.

Our destination up ahead.


There were many reminders of the gold-mining history of the area along the way. We saw quite a few diggings along this road. I wonder if they found anything? I guess they must have because otherwise this building would not have been constructed. Imagine the difficulty of hauling materials up here back in the early 1900's!
 




The road ahead.


It's about a 10-mile trek, but took almost an hour. Here you can see more mining buildings below Sarah.

And finally almost to the top.


This is the weather station atop Bald Mountain.


Such views!


Way down there, to the left of the lefthand lake, is Sarah's house and the town of Breckenridge. 


There goes old Sol.





A flock of ptarmigans were not at all concerned about our presence, and just barely got out of the road. 


It was an amazing trip, a bit (!) bumpy but well worth it. I wonder if I will ever be anywhere at such high altitude again?




Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
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