St. Elmo, Colorado

One of our favorite activities is checking out ghost towns. St. Elmo is one of the best preserved ghost towns in Colorado.  Many cabins and buildings still stand.  You can roam through this ghost town and imagine what it was like when it was a thriving mining village of the late 1800s. From St. Elmo you can travel up the mountain (if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle)and see the ruins of Handcock Pass and the Mary Murphy Mine.

St. Elmo, Colorado

 

Church/school house outside of St. Elmo, Co.

 

More old storefronts of St. Elmo, Co.

Further up the mountain from St. Elmo's is the Mary Murphy Mine. We stopped here to eat a picnic lunch and check out the view.


Ruins of the Mary Murphy Mine

 

Alpine, Colorado

We stayed in Salida, Colorado, but took a day trip to Alpine, Colorado, to find TK's family's cabin.  The cabin was built by TK's father and grandfather and was a honeymoon destination for her parents.  The cabin was sold in the late 70's but still stands Alpine.

TK's Family's Cabin in Alpine, Co

Salida, Colorado

After leaving Red River, New Mexico, we headed to Salida, Colorado.  Salida is a quaint  mountain town that sits in the middle of the state, literally in the "Heart of the Rockies," about 2 hours from Colorado Springs and 3 hours from Denver.  The Arkansas River runs right through town and is a kayaking destination for many brave souls (not us!).

Ancient Kayaks - Local Street Art

Flooded Arkansas River - Can you see the kayaker's helmet in the left middle part of the picture?

After a hard day of rock hounding on Ruby Mountain, we just happened to find ourselves in the Wallbangers Sports Bar across the street from our hotel (go figure!).  We ordered the "green chili cheese fries" and a beer.  That was when our lives changed forever!  Who would have guessed that we would find Nirvana disguised as a plate of gooey hatch chili goodness.....but we did! 



Wallbangers, Salida, Colorado

View of Salida from the top of a fire look-out point near town.



Red River, New Mexico

After leaving Amarillo, we headed to Red River, New Mexico, where we camped out at Fawn Lakes Campground (TK's favorite place to camp!) just outside of Red River.  We attended the Red River Fine Arts and Wine Festival where we sampled from local New Mexico wineries.  The morning of our second day in Red River we drove up Mallette Canyon Road to the top of Greenie Peak where is snowed on us in June.  That afternoon we made our way to Pilar, New Mexico, where we went white water rafting.  In one day we saw two different seasons!

View from our campsite at Fawn Lakes

Top of Greenie Peak in June 2011....brrrrr!

Palo Duro Canyon, Texas

During the summer of 2011 we traveled through Texas, New Mexico and Colorado with a final destination of Salida, Colorado.  The first leg of our journey had us stopping in Amarillo, Texas, and visiting Palo Duro Canyon.

Palo Duro Canyon

Cabin built by Charles Goodnight

'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,

Look on my works,

ye mighty, and despair!'

If you're curious about this odd- looking sculpture, sitting on the Panhandle Plains, you can visit www.atlasobscura.com for more information.