Just another exciting day. Slow to rise on this day and my back hurt but limbered up with some movement. Our plans today included a Jeep trip and not much else. Our trip began in Salida and we went west on Hwy 50 to County road 224. Took 224 up the hill where it split off into County road 228. This road winds its way toward Taylor mountain across the ridge and down into the valley that the Lilly Mine is in and out at Garfield, Co. Most of the road is “high-clearance” only but there is a little at the top that is better for 4X4… It is rough, high, and can be windy up there above timber-line… First a picture of our route, just in case you want to try it…
The route less taken – some 4X4 but mostly just high clearance and slow going…”]
If you want the Google Earth file for it download this.
Several interesting spots along the route are:
Facilities on the route!”]
Take care of business before you start as the facilities are not modern and some are not fully functional… There are, however, many trees!…..at least in the first part…
Life is a struggle at these heights!”]
Yet beauty can be found if you look close (before you step)!”]
You may also have to look around and through to see the flowers.”]
Someone before us gave thought to someone or sometime before. “]
We also took the view, gave thanks for the opportunity and ability to have been here (more than once). The view above is off to the SE from our spot. It looks into the San Luis Valley (upper end) and across Poncha pass… the haze is (we think) smoke from the fire we gave pictures of a few days ago… once it gets into the valley (just like the cold) it takes some strong SW winds to flush it out…
I remember back some years ago (1974) coming across the pass headed home to Alamosa and viewing the steam from the Alamosa power plant rising hundreds of feet then like magic making a 90 degree bind to the east… just an indication that when the cold set in the valley is would not leave until a spring type front from the SW came to push it out… actually once it got cold in the valley the compression of that cold would make it even colder on the valley floor… we could go to Wolf Creek Pass to Ski and have 10 to 20 degree warmer temps…
Back to the trail, we came down through an active Marble mine where they are taking out the white marble chips that everyone uses for landscape material….
It\’s not snow, just a sparkling white marble that they crush into chips for landscape.”]
One last picture… we came on this place and think it might just be a fixer-upper!..
Our High Country Fixer-Upper!… “]
But be aware that we think the wind may blow pretty hard up here at times… the roof seems to have done an inverted flop!
fixer-upper roof remains”]
I am sure you will want to do a better job of tieing it down than the last resident…
After all this we jogged through the big city of Garfield, Co… looked at the “for-sale” signs… and journeyed back down to Salida – one small piece of interest that we did not get pictures of but there is a “hydro-electric” facility on the South Fork of the Arkansas river… the head pond is at Garfield. I do not know how it works, maybe by piping the water down from there to the plant near Maysville, as the pond at Garfield is too small and the water spills over the top but there is a pipe leading from it down hill to a bigger pond near Maysville…? something for those with interest to check out…
We got back, had a sandwich and another nap for this wonderful day….