Winfield and Vicksburg ghost towns

I guess I am in a ghost mood. Last Saturday I visited Nevadaville, a ghost town near Central City and today I would like to talk about two ghost towns located (or better to say hidden) near Buena Vista. To get there you need to leave a paved road near Granite (small and almost ghost town  itself :) ) and use dirty County Road 390...

 

Amazing place we always love to visit - Leadville

Let's go somewhere and start exploring it not as a regular tourist but as the locals... We visited Leadville many times so I will combine pictures from two different trips here. One happened in October and another in September. Just a month and a half (and five years) in between but it made a huge difference. September's pictures definitely miss the snow that was covering the mountain peaks in October, but otherwise... It feels good to mix two trips in one story... As I said, let's start from a small street where rare tourist lands. And, yes, the houses are not looking as bright and fresh as on the Main Street, but still surprisingly nice and that is what we like the most about this small mountain town - how nice it looks!

 

Somewhere between Durango and Silverton...

...or, better to say, in the middle of nowhere. Because I don't recall anything bigger than a house or a farm or a hut in between these two towns. But who cares! The road itself is beautiful and if you don't mind driving slow and are ready to stop here and there you can find some nice places to look at. The road runs through San Juan Forest and sure is nicer during the Fall time... but early Spring is a good time to explore this route too...

 

Old town... ghost town...

I was always a fan of Central City and the surrounding area. It is close to Denver, cooler than downhills and a nice place to hike, recharge and relax. So last Saturday I drove there in the morning and started to walk up the hill.

 

Cañón de grandioso - Grand canyon

We drove all day long and reached the South Rim of the Grand Canyon late. I mean it... Like 10PM late. It was pitch dark in the parking lot and we could see nothing... Absolutely nothing... But we couldn't not walk to the edge and look down... Still nothing to see though... but... we all can swear we could feel something... something unspeakable and unclear... like some huge beast was quietly sleeping down below and breathing slowly... It was a silent night and a windless one... but still we all can feel the presence of something we have no words for...

We slept in the car and in the morning we walked there again and now we can see... not much in the beginning but with the Sun slowly rising we finally can see it - the Grand Canyon...

 

Medieval joust

To see the King's promenade click here - King, Queen, jugglers...

The county fairs weren't rare in the medieval village and happened every week. The bigger events happened monthly and were hosted in the small towns. But the best event one could attend happened in Fall, when the biggest annual fair was hosted somewhere in the county seat. And I assume it looked kinda close to what we were able to see at the Renaissance Festival. One could wander around and buy some stuff, could have some nice street food and enjoy some entertainment. But... the biggest and most interesting attraction was the knight joust.

 

King, Queen, jugglers...

To look at the medieval fair click here - The bridge connecting the past and the present...

We were wandering around and enjoying the time spent in the past... And finally... it started!

 

The bridge connecting the past and the present...

I don't think any of the people of the present time would like to return back to the past and live there. I mean jump back something like five hundred years... But... wouldn't it be nice to peek through the time and spend a day there. A day in the medieval town... even better... a day at a medieval fair... Wanna try? ;)

 

Beautiful mountain lakes

Yep, this is again about the lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. The previous story you can find here - Rocky Mountain National Park lakes

Actually, this is the previous story, because it happened a few years earlier ;) But the lakes are the same, so the order is not that important, is it? Also other time we were in the Rockies late in Fall (just before first snow) and this time in the middle of the Summer, which makes everything even brighter and... summery I guess...

Easter Service in Red Rocks Amphitheater

Don't really remember who told me about this event... We've been to Red Rocks before but always during the day time and I was tempted to see it at dawn... So I decided to go... I don't think you need much of the comments, but I am adding some details between the images but... you can skip them altogether. I guess the pictures will give you an idea how it looked like this early morning April the 4th, 2010...

 

To gamble or not to gamble?

The weather in Colorado is unpredictable. And mostly changing really quick... For example the snow can come fast and rashly. But the sun the next day can melt it out. And the next day the roads are clean and dry again and luring us to go to the mountains... The only question is where? And Central City is one of the best places to go if you want some coldness during hot summer days or coolness during the Winter... And this is not about cool weather (in the Winter it's always this way) but about cool place to be ;)

 

Garden... God's Garden...

Garden of the Gods is an amazing place to visit. Especially at the end of March, when the sun is already warm and everything is waking up and reaching out for some sun rays...

 

Escape from the big city...

Weekend is a good time to relax and to go somewhere... somewhere far away from the busy city... somewhere where... you can spend your weekend, I guess ;) Where you can walk along the streets and hear not the noise of the cars passing by but the dry leaves rustling. That is why one Sunday we got into the car and drove South towards Colorado Springs. But Colorado Springs wasn't our destination, we thought this city is still way too big for us...

 

Morning in the mountains

Sunrise in the mountains is often a beautiful and mystical show. Sometimes you cannot tell if you see these gorgeous colors or if you are dreaming of them... At this moment you often grab anything you have in your pocket and try to capture the scene so later you can prove your sanity and confirm you weren't sleepwalking while seeing this miracle... And mostly this "something" happens to be your smartphone ;) Today this device is capable of capturing the image, but 10 years ago... hm... it was possible to capture some impressions... but not even close to what I was able to see while I was driving to work.

 

Quick snow

Just a few days ago we all still enjoyed the bright colors of the maple and ash leaves. But the forecast told us that was not for long...

 

Red and orange, leaves and flowers...

We shouldn't complain about the Fall this year, should we? It started late and I was afraid we won't really see the Fall colors and it would be quick and dull. I am glad I was wrong...

 

What can I tell you about Winter? It is made from silver and copper...

To read the previous part click here - Gray mantle of fog...

We left Canyonlands and drove a couple of dozen miles to Arches. Another place where the weather and centuries created a nature masterpiece. Time carved the figures and arches from the dark red rocks and today thousands of people are coming here to see it. This time we were there in a very interesting moment... Unimaginable time when the red and white created something different. Magical and mystical, attractive and magnificent...

But before we got there we had some peculiar experiences because of the weather. The road dove to the fog and surfaced back all the time. Mostly we had some sense of direction, but often just hoped the road brings us there and we don't get lost...

 

Gray mantle of fog...

To read the previous part click here - A 1000 miles is not a detour for the mad dog... 

As I told you before, we left the Dead Horse viewpoint and dove into the thick fog. The windy road ran between the cliffs and on an open space. Sometimes we barely could see the road and sometimes we had a nice and good view of where we were going. No one can even forget the road like this... no one...