Saturday and we are off again to spend the day doing some site-seeing. We visit the last remaining Rio Grande Southern Railroad trestle at Trout Lake. The old railroad water tower is still standing and it’s nice to see that the structure has been stabilized and rotting timbers replaced. It is incredibly beautiful in this valley. Ali loves taking pictures and we make frequent stops for photo opps.
We take the winding road up to the mining ghost town of Alta and above we stop at Alta Lakes. The road is narrow & rutted and there is some concern that it might prove too much for the rented mini-van but Roger is a good driver and we do finally arrive.
The Gold King Mine here was the first place in the world to receive alternating current from the power plant at Ames, several thousand feet below where we are standing. I have one of the original glass bushings from the Ames Power Plant that I bought in Ouray when I was in the 8th grade. I had quite a collection when I lived in Denver of over 3,000 different glass insulators. This particular one I still own and it’s been on loan with some others to the museum in Telluride for at least 10 years. Hopefully when the Rico Historical Society gets the old firehouse building restored, I can transfer some of those over to Rico.
We make our way to Telluride which has some of the most spectacular scenery around. After a meal at a local café, we ride the dog-friendly Gondola up the mountainside to Mountain Village. Not much going on here during this season, but Chloe and Ali take a climb on the village rock climbing practice rock. We take the tram back up the mountain and get off at the mid-point. While Max, Ali and I hang out overlooking the Telluride Valley, Chloe and Lynn, hike uphill to the top of a nearby mountain. They have to make several stops on the steep uphill trek but tell us the view was worth the effort. It’s not easy for us flatlanders in this altitude.
We’ve had another great day and dinner at the Enterprise tops it off. They will leave in the morning….
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