CC Trip - Colorado

Arrived in Colorado Springs altitude 6500 ', and soaked up the great weather - low 80's and dry. A welcome change from the humid upper 90's we've had for the last 2 weeks. The city is in a valley with the eastern Rockies bordering it. Here's Pike's Peak, at 14,110 feet above sea level.

It was made famous in the Gold Rush of 1849. It was "Pike's Peak or Bust" for the enterprising golddiggers.

Went to The Garden of The Gods, and drove by huge redrock and limestone peaks, with trails and horseback riding available.

We're staying in Buena Vista (alt +/- 8000') for about a week, visiting with friends Gail & Steve.

Buena Vista is a valley town southwest of Colorado Springs, surrounded by ten 14,000 peaks. Agenda includes gold panning, hot springs and a side trip to Cripple Creek for a little gaming.

Along the way are a couple of burros strolling along a city street:

A couple of log cabins, barely held together, and probably from the time of westward exploration in the 1800's:

Picture the covered wagons, the ladies cooking over a pit, children running and playing, the men riding in on their horses with their harvest, maybe a stage coach passing on the road. Life was tough but simple.

While driving, we started with beautiful weather, which deteriorated into a rainstorm, then a downpour with hail so bad we had to pull over, and then, the most beautiful double rainbow. We found the end of the rainbow, but no pot of gold was to be found. Maybe it's a good omen and a prelude to Tony's gold-panning next week.

It must have been mating season at the local Llama farm, because the boys were quite frisky:

That's actually 2 llamas on the right! I think he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear!

Cripple Creek is a small mountain town, with about a dozen casinos and lots of tourists.

Tony and Steve have been gold-panning in Cache Creek, Buena Vista.

They've got all the equipment, and have been digging out dirt in choice spots of bedrock, then filtering and "washing" it, in hopes of finding golden flakes or even the elusive nugget.

Click the arrow for a short video:

The mountain doesn't give up the good stuff easily, and it's hard work out in the sun, but the boys are quite determined.......i.e. Don't quit the day job.....yet!

UPDATE from the last day of gold-panning:

Found a new spot with the help of a new friend, Doug, and here is the result:

Here's Doug's harvest:

A gold embedded rock:

The same rock through a magnifier:

One day, we took a ride up to Mt. Cottonwood, elevation 12,000+, one of the ten super peaks surrounding Buena Vista.

We were past the Timberline, and at the snow line on the peak.

It was 16 miles to the top, along dirt roads, with sharp switchbacks. And NO guard rails!! The drop was over 50 feet at times. It was a white knuckle drive!

Click the arrow for a scary ride:

The scenery was breathtaking:

We had lunch at Mirror Lake, a beautiful setting, about 10,000 ' elevation.

The preferred mode of transportation is the ATV, followed by the dirt bikes.

We drove through the town of Tin Cup, which was one of the many Ghost Towns in Colorado, but people have begun to return and build again.

This house has solar heat for hot water:

We soaked in the Hot Springs until we were all shriveled (even more than usual).

It hit 80 degrees today, probably the hottest day yet here. We'll be off to New Mexico tomorrow, and back to hot weather once again.