Monday, August 3, Matchless Campround, National Forest, Leadville CO

Pure bliss! I am sitting writing the blog overlooking Turquoise Lake, with the sun filtering through the pines, a boulder as a foot rest. Only one other in the camp, some distance away..silence reigns. And at just under 10,000 feet, we are adjusting to the high altitudes without too many issues, except that we have to walk a bit slower especially uphill.

It’s been a wonderful day with magnificent scenery, extremes in the weather and some great little towns. First stop mid morning was at Granby and spotted a funky little coffee shop, just what we needed to start the day. Settled ourselves into a wooden swing seat outside and watched the world go by.

Over the road was a store that made their own furniture, we were so impressed with what they were doing. They showed us through the workshop area out the back, and then downstairs where they had timber store. Racks of wood from old barns as well as from the pines that had been killed by the Pine Beetle, so good to see that it was getting some use. The furniture has a real mountain feel to it, but really good quality.

Got a friendly welcome at the information centre as well, this town felt good.

While we were getting a few supplies, we heard huge claps of thunder, and came out to a real thunderstorm, the rain started a bit further down the road. Off and on all afternoon it was in the mountains, we could see the lightning forks, and the thunder reverberated through the mountains.

Down the road to Silverhorne and Dillon, two very glam ski towns, very modern and not really our scene. Had a bit of a nose around, but soon set Jilly for Leadville. We were on the I70 for a short distance, and saw a huge accident on the opposite side with a tanker completely rolled and crushed, traffic was backed up for miles. Quite chilling to see.

We crossed another pass at over 11,000 feet, and at the top was a huge open cast molybdemun mine, reaching up to the snow. Love the surprises that seem to be around every corner.

Leadville is just charming, an old mining town, about to celebrate its 150^th anniversary and is proud of the fact that it is the highest incorporated town in the states. The wide main street is lined with old stores, all very tidy, but not tackily renovated like some towns. We pottered up and down the street, a favourite was the antique store in the old hardware store, and upstairs in what was the bedrooms there were more antiques.

Enjoyed browsing through a fairly new gallery in what was the lobby of the old hotel, featuring excellent contemporary art from around Colorado.