What a beautiful day for driving. We woke up to the sunniest morning we'd had in several days (of course, now that all the photos have been take under clouds!)
We departed Rifle Gap State Park and wandered through the back scenic country. Beautiful ranches and smaller holdings all scattered across green pastures lined the roads. What a contrast to the sagebrush and rock formations we had driven through for the last two days.
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| Red Cliff Bridge |
Railroad tracks, remnants of mining activity in days past, including a mine and home for the employees. and few cabins scattered across the valley floor and on the slopes give scale to show how steep the mountains are in this area.
The gorgeous snow capped mountains in the distance provide a visual contrast and reminded us that it's going to be chilly up here on top of the Rockies!
It proved so when we stopped onTennessee Pass to take a stretch. The wind was biting, and this is August! We could only imagine what it must be like in winter. We soon discovered there were several military memorials to explore, and it seems they are here because the climate in this area was essential to their training.
One is the memorial to the 10th Mountain Division. After seeing Finnish troops overcome Russian forces in 1939 the head of the National Ski Patrol began pressuring the War Department to form a similar unit. There's an excellent summary of the history of the little known 10th Mountain Division, on the National WWII Museum website.
Another, the Norwegian Monument, provides the history of the formation of the battalion known as the "Viking Battalion" and a summary of their accomplishments and importance during WWII. The 99th infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated at Camp Ripley, Minnesota on August 15, 1942 as per written instructions by the War Department.
This unique elite unit was to consist only of Norwegians and Americans with direct Norwegian descent. Soldiers picked out for this elite unit had to have a working knowledge of the Norwegian language and preferably already knowing how to ski. The link at the beginning of this paragraph takes you to the official website and has the full history.For the next two days well be staying in Molly Brown campground, near Leadville. Named for the famous "Unsinkable Molly Brown", it's a nod to the mining history in the area.
The other campgrounds in the area are also named for local historic characters. Baby Doe and Silver Dollar are right next to us. The Wikipedia article on Leadville does an excellent job of covering the history of the area, as well as many of the famous personalities, so I won't try to repeat all that here.
Our campsite is spacious, and surrounded by pine trees. It's only a short hike to Turquoise lake, so after getting set up the pups had an outing, but no swim as the air and the water this time of day are chilly.
Thursday
I was 29 degrees this morning. . . wow, are we ever going to have a hard time adjusting to Texas temperatures!
Today is tour Leadville day. No particular destination or shopping list in mind, except of course, a quilt shop. There's only one in town, Mountain Top Quilts, and it is a hybrid antique and quilt shop - quite fun to rummage around in!
Leadville has done a fine job of retaining and promoting their mining history while also accommodating more modern tourist interests such as the winter sports, craft brewing, and antique collecting. Main street sports several original buildings with the old fashioned plaster and brick facades and some very interesting murals, and many of the side streets are a wealth of beautifully restored little Victorian frame houses.
The setting is beautiful, with the snow capped mountains behind the church spires and ornate building roofs, and we actually had a bit of sun to show of the beautiful clouds. Those clouds seem to come and go quickly here, and with a "high" in the 50's it cools off quickly when the sun disappears.
After the quilt shop we stopped at the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. Oh my goodness, what an amazing collection of fantastic mineral samples, mining equipment, dioramas explaining gold mining history, life size scenes depicting coal and hard rock mining, famous people in the industry - wow! This is a stop worth making for those at all interested in the history of mining and children will get a lot out of it too, as there are hands on activities, videos, and the dioramas and scenes clearly explain the processes and history. The facility houses four stories of exhibits and photographs, as well as a research library. We only made it through two floors before our brains were full, and our tummies empty.
Soaking up all that history and information made us hungry, so we asked for recommendations and decided on the Golden Burro. Good food and reasonable for where we are. Steve had the best tamale he's had in a long time, and my burger was good too. The place has been in business for 75 years, so they must have something going for them.
Back at camp the dogs were anxious for a romp, so into the woods we went. We had a nice leisurely walk down to Turquoise Lake for a short but enthusiastic swim session - it's never long enough to suit the dogs, though.
And we take one last look at the lake before we head back to camp to begin the packing up.
We depart in the morning for Trinidad State Park.
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