Red Cone - Buena Vista - Pitkin - St. Elmo - Oil Pan Hole
| The
morning will be a "fill the oil and check for a leak". Oil filled,
there is a slow seep so nothing significant. Grizzly Lake it is.
After Grizzly Lake we'll enjoy some ice cream from the St. Elmo General
Store and then all of us will head for home. Before I leave, I'll drive a few easy trails solo to check the area a bit. On the way home I stopped at an old pickup with its hood up - its distributor ?pickup? had worn through. They had called the parts store in Leadville and BV - no availability. 6pm on a Friday night. They didn't want to be on the side of the highway and there was a pull-out 1/4 mile up I could pull them to that - but then they'd be stuck on the side of the road on a Friday night. I don't have space for both in my jeep. I know there's a hotel in Leadville as we come into town. It's only a few miles - I'll pull'm to the hotel. That would give them a place to stay while they sort the issue. Pickup in the parking lot the I-70 slog to home. When I came out of the tunnel, westbound traffic was stopped, not allowed into the tunnel - unknown reason. |
| The trails I did solo (leftmost yellow line) was very close to the Alpine Tunnel road a couple days earlier. I could have taken Hancock Pass over and back but decided to not. |
| Old railbed - to the east side of the Alpine
Tunnel |
| The entrance obstacle for the Grizzly Lake
trail. |
| There
used to be a tree and when it was there vehicles had to climb the rock
face - often using winches to the anchor point up the trail. I looked
at the lines up the rock face - I'd put my tires either on the green
lines or on the red lines. I tried the red - tires spun. In the end,
all of us went up the far left where the tree was. There is a creek to
drive through before getting to the rocks - thus the tires are wet
(slippery). |
| Once
the entrace obstacle was cleared, the trail still gave a handful of
other difficult spots. This uphill, while not filled with large rocks,
was steep enough to cause all four tires to spin - dry tires / dry
rocks. Roll-back and try a second time here and there. |
| And then there were large rocks to navigate. |
| A large cabin at the trailside. |
| A tailings pile... |
| And the addit across the trail. Let's take a
look. |
| End of Trail |
| Grizzly Lake |
| Panorama Click for a larger size |
| Avalanche chute - no trees survive |
| Tailings pile (not tan this time around) -
there's a mine nearby |
| (1) mine opening - collapsed to keep people
out, (2) rails for mine cart to move rock, (3) dump spot |
| Boiler - possibly to run a drill |
| This tailings pile has the more common tan
color |
| Another old cabin - ramaining wall outline |
| Looking down at St. Elmo |
| On the way out I slowly dropped down the
larger step. I wanted to know how much the belly pan would rub/touch
the rocks - only slightly. I have that info should I visit again. |
| The St. Elmo General Store has bird seed and
hummingbird feeders. Critters get close to be fed. |
| Info Sign Click for a larger size |
| Main street St. Elmo |
| I'm heading up towards Hancock Pass with a
stop at a side trail. |
| An original railroad bridge - no longer stable
so the trail bypasses it. |
| There were tramways / cable cars to haul ore
from the area mines to the mill. |
| Info Sign Click for a larger size |
| Tram post with cable on the ground |
| I'll
take the easy / smooth railbed to the end of the line where it turns
into both a walking trail (to the east portal of the tunnel) and to the
Hancock trail. |
| I'm heading out - to go home. |
| I believe this is the mill. |
| Panorama Click for a larger size |
| More tan tailings on the mountainside. |
| North from Buena Vista to Leadville and home. |
| Rain falling |
| Leadville Colo |
| The folks with the ailing truck - failed
pickup / sensor in the distributor. Family and Friends know I tend to stop for a car on the shoulder of the road. Mark Collins graced me by writing a song. You might enjoy it. The Saint of Broken-Down Motors (Youtube) |
| Sitting in third gear @ 50mph for the long
uphill to the tunnel. |
| Parked westbound traffic as I come out of the
tunnel. |
