COLORADO TRIP - 2001

8/25/01 (Saturday) - Top of the Rockies Scenic loop

Today we slept in until 9 am.  After breakfast we left at 10 am for a scenic drive called the "Top of the Rockies".

We went from Copper Mountain south to Leadville. Leadville is at over 10,000 feet elevation and is a mining town in operation since about 1869.  All around were mountain peaks of over 14,000 feet.  The highest section of the US Rockies.  The highest peak, Mt. Massive (14,441 ft), could readily be seen from there as well.

 
A view of Mt. Massive

An old building nearby - perhaps a one room school house.

We had a Chinese lunch in Leadville and then headed back north to Vail.  Just before Vail we stopped at Midville where there was a street fair in progress.  Looked, but didn't buy.

 
Here are some colorful tailing ponds left over from years of mining operations. There is an effort to clean them up now and to restore the land to a natural state.

Drove back over Vail Pass and stopped in Frisco for gas and some more window shopping and then back to camp.  We will have a leisurely rest of the afternoon and evening. Silverthorne.

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