Leadville, CO 2019

The following pictures were taken in the Mining District just north of Leadville, Colorado.

Toni and I took the Maverick out to check out the trails in Camp Hale .  During World War II, the army trained the 10th Mountain Division consisting of 15,000 troops on how to combat under extreme winter conditions.  Only a few remnants are left of the camp and the area has been turned over for recreational use involving thousands of acres. We have a map of the area and simply took the first turn that took us up into the mountains.  We drove a total of 30 miles on this trail for over a total of 5.5 hours.  There are two other major trails but we didn't have time to check them out.     At the top of the first climb, we noticed this side trail, so we decided to take it.   It turned out to be somewhat of a mistake, since it has multiple rocky spots.   Lunch break time.   We met a couple of units in a very narrow spot.  Literally only 1/2 inch between us.   Several ...

We hit the trails a little earlier than usual today.  We were in the Maverick by about 10:00 AM and on our way to Half Moon Road, which locals told us about. The trip from house and back was 40 miles long and took about 4 hours.  Very good trip and worth the effort! Lots of bears in the area.  The following picture is a camper's food bag hoisted high.   This is the second water crossing.  Pictures of the first one is later in the group.   This is obviously a miners cabin.  Next one was taken from across the road and was the entrance to his mine.   If you look closely you can actually see the entrance to the mine. Most likely this was the home of the Champion Mine's foreman or his office.  Next is the first picture of the Champion Mine just up the hill from here. Very interesting old mine complex.    It is difficult to imagine how they were able to get all ...