Special offer

The Smugglers Union Mine - Summer TraveLog 3

By
Real Estate Agent with 1st Action Real Estate
6-29 Tomboy Basin
Welcome back to my Travel Log for 29 June.
If you've been following along or just stopped here by accident, I'm on vacation this month and I'm keeping this wandering journal for my own amusement and to keep friends up-to-date. Our country has so many diverse and beautiful geographies and while I may be somewhat biased, I was lucky to grow up in one of the most beautiful - the Colorado Rockies.

Yesterday we took a great trip over to our cabin on Trout Lake.  (http://activerain.com/blogsview/571021/Trout-Lake-Colorado-Summer) and before that we drove from Southern Ca to Southern Co and highlighted some travel tips you just don't find in AAA. (http://activerain.com/blogsview/568393/Myths-Legends-of-the Great Southwest)
start   Did I mention I'm up here with my Aunt? She's 95 and was born here. Irene, and my Mom, Vera, lived in Telluride their entire lives. In an old mining town resurrected as a ski town, they saw a lot of changes during their lives. So Mom died a couple years ago and now my Aunt lives in Cali w/me. But we always try to come up for at least a month in the summer. We were always here for the 4th because Telluride celebrates in a BIG way and has for decades - oh, and my Mom's birthday was the 4th of July.  
   So we had a BBQ with some friends last eve and our good friend Kevin offers to take us up in the hills. So myself, my Aunt and Kevin headed out in his Ranger. What a great little rig. Smoother ride than my Jeep.

townThe road switchbacks up out of town. My house is about dead  center of this photo. At the fare end is Town Park where there's always a festival or concert going on. The Dead played here in '87. We can hear the music if we sit in our backyard - and we also have ringside seats for the big fireworks display they have on the 4th. Small towns have their advantages.

slide
Heading for 13,100 Ft Imogene Pass. Along the way we'll pass over a dozen old mines and mining camps that flourished around the turn of the last century, including the Liberty Bell Mine, where my Grandmother first set up house in 1909 fresh off the boat from Austria. We also saw evidence of several big  avalanches. They had over 20' of snow last winter and a lot of snow broke loose.

social tunnel

For a jeep road, it's pretty tame down by the bottom but as you go up it gets rougher and narrower. This is Social Tunnel - a place to get out of the rain or snow for a spell if you got caught out.

trip
It doesn't take long to get above timberline - but as the snow melts the wildflowers crop up. Because of all the snow the season is a couple weeks late this year but I'll show you a flower collection one day.


top
Unfortunately this day we couldn't make it to the top. Still too much snow on the road. Just off my left shoulder there's one more switchback and the guy on the Caterpillar just hasn't made it past there yet. So we didn't make it to the summit, didn't get to Fort Peabody and couldn't get a glimpse of the Camp Bird Mine. More on them later. We only made it to about the 12,800 Ft level - we brought an oxygen bottle in case my Aunt needed it but I almost ended up using it. I'm from C Level Man!

lunar cup
We only saw 2 other people on the mountain and they had been up to pre-ski the course for the Lunar Cup ski races coming up next Saturday. It's a little hard to see in this photo but you can barely make out the figure 8's they cut on that snow field. I used to be able to do that, stress USED TO.

snow tunnel
Did I mention they had a lot of snow this winter? That'll still be there when the next snow flies.


assay house
A hundred years ago there were thriving mining communities even above timberline. My Aunt remembers hiking up here with friends - there was a dancehall, bowling alley and several mines within a couple miles. These mountains are literally honeycombed with tunnels, some that produced and some that didn't. In this basin alone there was the Tomboy, the Sheridan Crosscut, the Liberty Bell, the Japan Flora and others. The Camp Bird, just over the ridge was one of America's richest gold mines. The man who first developed it, Tom Walsh, was flush enough that he bought his wife the Hope Diamond. I'm not either lyin' - Google it.


tram
There's still a fair amount of gear left as well as tailings piles and tunnels. Every winter the snow defeats a few more of the old buildings. A lot of the heavy metal parts were scrapped during WWII to build ships and tanks, tourists have scavenged their share over the years as well. This structure is the top of a tramway. It's like a gondola - there's a big metal wheel with teeth that drives the cable that runs the trams. Ore was mined and partially processed at the mine site, then the ore was dumped into hoppers on the other side of this building and fed into the tram cars to transport down the mountain to the mills. Returning empty tram cars carried groceries, mail, visitors and miners returning to work.

waterfall
With all the snowmelt higher up, little streams and waterfalls are everywhere. From the upper basin you can see out over the ski area, past Mount Wilson all the way into Utah. The Tomboy Basin is some rugged country with a colorful history. Come see it if you get a chance.

Hope your day went well and that all your deals are cash.

Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta & The Southern California Wine Country
subscribe to my blog                    southwestcaliforniaghomes.com

Remember, Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.
copyscape
THE OPINIONS IN THIS COMMENTARY ARE STRICTLY GENE WUNDERLICH's PERSONAL OPINION. WHILE ANY REASONABLE &/or RATIONAL PERSON SHOULD AGREE, THESE VIEWS MAY NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ACTIVERAIN, COLDWELL BANKER RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE OR ANY  LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.





Comments (4)

Tom Plant
WINEormous.com - Murrieta, CA

Gene - Looks like you're having a grand time. Great photos. Are you bringing back some Freshies?

Jun 30, 2008 02:08 AM
Steve Scheer
Realty Oasis - Metro Brokers - Highlands Ranch, CO
Highlands Ranch Real Estate - Denver Real Estate

Nothing like the Colorado mountains, enjoying your adventures down here in Denver.

Jun 30, 2008 02:21 AM
Gene Wunderlich
1st Action Real Estate - Murrieta, CA
Realtor & Legislative Liaison

Tom - I wouldn't forget you and the Habanero Freshies.

Jun 30, 2008 06:53 AM
Tom Plant
WINEormous.com - Murrieta, CA

Geno - Good man! Thanks!!!

Jul 01, 2008 09:42 AM