animal
Well-known member
I live in a big valley on top of the Rockies. (7,600' of elevation on the valley floor) I've been working a lot on a side job and trying to get some writing done, but yesterday I took my wife out for a drive and a hike.
I'd found what looked like an abandoned old mine vent shaft on Google Earth, and we drove up there to check it out. The climb from the road to the shaft is super steep, and my little 2wd Dakota got us about halfway there before we ran into lots of rocks and drifted crusty snow on the little two-track trail.
Marcia and I both have knee issues, so we took it slow the last steep section. Sadly, the shaft is full of snow, so I don't know how deep it is, but the view from up there was spectacular. On the way down to the valley floor, we took a road neither of us had been on before and found what's left of the old town the mine builder founded. There isn't much left, but we really enjoyed a day away from our normal routine.
This is the view from were we parked back down to the road. It's steeper than it looks!
This is the view from where we parked up toward the shaft. We had to climb up and around that hill on top. Good thing we weren't in a hurry!
This is what's left of a small structure that was next to the shaft.
This big jumble of rocks is next to the snow-filled shaft.
This is looking south toward New Mexico.
Looking east...those are the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the distance, across the valley floor.
Looking north...
Me on the big rock formation, checking out the scenery when we first climbed up there. My wife thought it was a cool snapshot.
I'd found what looked like an abandoned old mine vent shaft on Google Earth, and we drove up there to check it out. The climb from the road to the shaft is super steep, and my little 2wd Dakota got us about halfway there before we ran into lots of rocks and drifted crusty snow on the little two-track trail.
Marcia and I both have knee issues, so we took it slow the last steep section. Sadly, the shaft is full of snow, so I don't know how deep it is, but the view from up there was spectacular. On the way down to the valley floor, we took a road neither of us had been on before and found what's left of the old town the mine builder founded. There isn't much left, but we really enjoyed a day away from our normal routine.
This is the view from were we parked back down to the road. It's steeper than it looks!
This is the view from where we parked up toward the shaft. We had to climb up and around that hill on top. Good thing we weren't in a hurry!
This is what's left of a small structure that was next to the shaft.
This big jumble of rocks is next to the snow-filled shaft.
This is looking south toward New Mexico.
Looking east...those are the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the distance, across the valley floor.
Looking north...
Me on the big rock formation, checking out the scenery when we first climbed up there. My wife thought it was a cool snapshot.
