Another, chilly, rainy day, but we hit the trails anyhow. First stop was to Burns Gulch. Jim drove in and I drove out. Then I drove us to Highland Mary and he drove us home from there.
It starts off with a water crossing, but the rivers & streams are a lot lower and slower than when we first arrived here.
It becomes VERY rough & rocky!
Looking at the trail from above:
Charles approaching the "dip" in the road:
Jane moves a couple of rocks for him . . .
and spots for him . . . .
Good job -- only bumped the trailer hitch!
The lone critter we saw all day - a curious marmot.
Looking back toward the main road to Animas Forks:
At the top of Highland Mary.
Interesting story: Two brothers from NY established Highland Mary. They consulted a fortune-teller to decide where to prospect. Following the fortune-teller's advice, they unknowlingly crossed over some rich gold veins. By 1885, they had invested around a million dollars in the mine and paid the fortune-teller $50,000, (Lots of money for back then) They ended up bankrupt and sold the mine and their nearby elaborate house and returned to NY. The new owners were more conventional and the mine immediately began to pay off and was one of the best producing mines in Cunningham Gulch, operating on and off until 1952.
Good rock-hunting up here!
Hmmm - sure hope I put that brake on!!
One of several water-crossings:
A repeat of the shot of the old miners' dorm up on the mountain from a different angle:
If you click & enlarge this one, you can see the dorm.
(Use the back arrow to return to the blog)
And I just love watching these guys. We can't keep the feeders full.
I have tried so hard to catch a bunch at once, but they are just so fast.
Here's one feeding and two holding in the air:
Here's an inpatient bird feeding out of the same flower hole:
Two feeding in the same hole; one holding just above them, and
another one (a blur) at the top of the picture:
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