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.

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.

Up in Leadville

54° here in Colorado this morning! It's been nice weather, in the 70s, while back at home it was 95° yesterday. Yuck. 

Wednesday we spent some time in Leadville, the highest incorporated town in the US at 10,119 feet above sea level. It's a charming place, lots of tourists of course, but also a lot of history.

This old school has been turned into condominiums and is for sale. Looked pretty uninhabited.

The town houses the National Mining Hall of Fame, but unfortunately it was too close to closing time to explore. There were some amazing bronze sculptures there.

And a penny-smashing machine! I got one for my friend Elizabeth,  who collects smashed pennies.

A sculpture of a miner reading his methane tester. While silver mining was the main reason for early European settlers to come here, there is currently a huge molydenum mine in operation that covers thousands of acres, not far from Leadville. This museum mainly focuses on the gold and silver mining history, but there is a gallery dedicated to Americans who were important in various mining industries.

There were many cute Victorian homes.

Inside a little bar, The Manhattan. 

This is Anne, the bartender at The Manhattan, whose ex-father-in-law was part of the building of the huge radio telescopes at Green Bank, West Virginia. We had a great time talking with her about Leadville and about our state.

The opera house, an ornate and beautiful structure built during Leadville's mining heyday. 

Great old ghost sign on the opera house.

Silver mining might have lead to the naming of this fantastic old saloon, The Silver Dollar.

I just drank water here, but had the most delicious treat, chocolate hazelnut beignets. 

Larry had a beer and a long conversation with three construction workers at the next table, all military veterans. 

The bar at the Silver Dollar.

It was such a cool place, with lots of memorabilia on the walls.

They also have Doc Holliday's piano!

And this very ornate pool table. Those brass lion head legs!

I really enjoyed this quirky town, and hope to go back someday. Just so much to see!

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