Colorado,  Off Road Trips,  Trips

Colorado 2017 in the Mighty Merc – Wednesday

Wednesday morning we work up to do our usual morning routine of grabbing sunrise photos. I kept the kids occupied while the wife grabbed some photos:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

I’d say she made the most of the sunrise time that day! Once the sun was up, we bombed over the hill to Idaho Springs to see the waterwheel at the rest stop. I’m still kind of amazed the poor Merc didn’t scatter itself across the interstate when working its way up to the tunnel. Nothing like a 4k pull for miles at a time:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

The rest area was pretty nice, but you only relax so much when sitting next to the interstate. The story behind the waterwheel was pretty interesting. The original contraption would have been a sight to see:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Loading back up, we went the rest of the way down to Georgetown to run Argentine Pass. This pass mostly follows an old rail road bed so it wasn’t particular challenging, but it was pretty!
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

We did see a road construction sign and track marks in the dirt, so we were kind of wondering what we would come across on the way up. It wasn’t too long before we found out. Thankfully they came by right as we passed a pull off:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

After several more miles, we got to the Waldorf Mine. There isn’t much here though there is still an active mining claim going on and a small smattering of old equipment:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Pretty valley though:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

We pointed the noise uphill and started gaining elevation until we got up to the Santiago Mine. We were very surprised to see that the park service was there putting a new roof on one of the buildings. I guess they deiced to try to save some of the old structures up there:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

The wind was a wee bit brisk, so back into the truck we went as we continued to climb up the trail:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

It did get a bit narrower as you went up, but still plenty wide:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

The view at the top didn’t let us down:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

A tourist train operated on this line over 100 years ago. It was called the Stairway to the Stars as it climbed high to the pass.

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Heading back down the hill…:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

… the wife was happy to see some wildlife finally:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Plenty of width left!
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

The way back down was pretty uneventful save for one thing. We were wondering where our buddies with tracked trucks were at. No sooner did we think that when both of them popped around a corner. Unfortunately for us, that meant we had to back up the shelf road for about a quarter mile until we came across a pull out wide enough for them to squeeze by:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

We made our way to Frisco for dinner, and I tried to make the Merc blend in. I failed miserably at it as I often caught folks nabbing photos of it:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

We tried to grab another good sunset, but it just didn’t work out for us this time. The wife did manage to grab a good photo or two of the daughter:
Sara L.: Wednesday &emdash;

Slideshow from the day (Click Me!)

Finial Thoughts

Leave a Reply