Alamosa and Creede

 The past few days we have been enjoying Creede and Alamosa, Colorado.  We used to come to Alamosa to ride and Rio Grande Scenic Railroad trip up to LaVeta Pass.  The train was pulled by an old steam engine and a fun ride through scenic areas.  It has become one of the many casualties of the Corona virus pandemic.  The owners are looking for someone to buy the train cars and start the rides again.

This is pretty country.  

The highway follows the Rio Grande River much of the way.

On our way to Alamosa, we drove through Monte Vista. Sand Hill Cranes migrate through the San Luis Valley, which includes Alamosa.  About 20,000 cranes make a stop in the valley.  Monte Vista pays tribute to the cranes with a number of images of the birds on the main street.

Monday we drove to Creede.  The annual Woodcarvers Rendezvous was in progress.  I didn't take any photos there, but we did see interesting sights in the town of Creede.

We passed on old train station along the way. 

Creede is in a narrow canyon.  Shops line the main street and the carving show is held in the underground community center, located in old mine shafts.

Here is a scene in town showing a old home and yard.

This mural shows images of nearby scenery.

It was a fun excursion.

Today we drove to a trail near the golf course.  Along the way we saw these train cars.

There were several tiny houses in one place.  Don't know if the are individually owned, for rent, or displayed for sale.

I took a picture of this primrose along our trail.

And we enjoyed this peaceful view.

This was the only wildlife we saw.  The sign below warns of other critters but we didn't see any of them. 

 

Hiking in Creede

Creede was established in a small opening amid rugged and beautiful rocky hills.

At the far end of the town, the opening in the rocks that you see below lead into a canyon cut by a stream. Caves were cut into the rock walls in the miners' hunt for silver ore.  Today those caves house the community center and meeting rooms.

We walked through the narrow part of the canyon where the caves are found and it opened into more beautiful views.

After a short walk we came to evidence of mining and a mill to process the ore.

This is the small stream flowing through the canyon.  To the left above the stream you can see the supporting structure for a rail line to bring the processed ore out of the canyon.

Here are more of the mining structures and what I think are called slag piles from all the rock brought our in the mining operation.

We had hiked up the canyon on a previous visit and it was good to see and appreciate these mountains and their history again.

Creede

We enjoyed time walking around Creede when we were parked there earlier this month.  We saw this small garden, complete with a mural and a young girl walking on the stone wall.  She reminded us of our granddaughter Kylie who used to balance on a wall near our home in Centennial.

The were flowers blooming everywhere in downtown Creede.

There were also a number of interesting sculptures, like this long-legged bird.




Our RV resort, Mountain Views at River's Edge, is beautiful.  We enjoyed walking around there, too.  Love this small lake and the reflections.

These sculptures are scattered around the resort.

The antler light fixture in the meeting hall is really impressive.

We will definitely stay there again, if we are in the area.

Now There are Six

John's parents had four children over 14 years. In 1968 John's brother Tim was the last of the four to wed, marrying Diane Marie Hutton. Since then the four brothers and sisters and spouses have been through a lot of fun, companionship, support, sadness and stress. The sadness returned Friday night when Diane died, less than a year after sister Cindy's husband John died.

Tim and Diane were the best of friends and constant companions during their 48 years of marriage. Now we are waiting to find out the funeral service details.

Tim called us Saturday morning about the death and yesterday we moved from Creede to Canon City to be with him. John will be conducting the funeral. We will be here at least until Saturday.

Mining Relics

Walking north out of Creede one day, we saw the remains of the Humphrey Mill.

Construction of the mill began in 1901 and it began processing silver ore in January 1902. The ore came from several mines along the Amethyst Vein, the largest vein of silver in the Creede Mining District. The "vein was between 4 and 6 feet wide and the silver consistently assayed in at an incredible 200 troy ounces of silver per ton of ore." (Forest Service sign near the mill)

Gravity separated concentrated silver ore from waste rock in the mill. The silver ore came out of these chutes and loaded into train cars, to be shipped to a smelter in El Paso, Texas.

Ore came from area mines in ore cars pulled by donkeys and mules on this track across Willow Creed from the mill.  Remember, you can click on any of the photos to make them larger.

Think of all the hard labor that went into shoring up the rocky hillside around the ore track. I can't believe what it took to work, on foot with hand tools, cutting the logs and building the retaining walls on these steep hills!

The valley where the mill is located is very picturesque.

This Is a Fun Place to Visit

The year-round population of Creede, Colorado, is 290 people, split just about half and half men and women. The median age is 52. In the summer, the population blossoms with tourists who like to fish and/or escape the summer heat by spending time at 8700 feet in the Colorado Rockies. Many of the summer residents, perhaps 50 to 60%, are from Texas.

Creede is interesting to visit and shop. There are hanging baskets of flowers all over on Main Street.

One of the shops in town has lots of gift items, including a lot of natural wood decorations. This photo is taken from the stairway to the second floor. You can see the items for sale down below.

Here are two of the tree roots that have been made into decorations, as well as a bowl turned from a burl.

An empty lot has been turned into a small park.

The facades of many of the old buildings have been restored.

There was a neat old Ford truck parked in town.

This land across Willow Creek, leading to the area where the Woodcarvers Rendezvous is being held, was really spruced up.

These two boys had the boat and paddle, but they weren't on the creek.

Obviously, the nearby pond is used for ice skating and hockey during the winter.

The county courthouses in Texas are very ornate, often with a dome on top. Courthouse square is always an attractive place. I am sure the many Texans visiting Creede are very disappointed in the Mineral County Courthouse in Creede. There is no courthouse square here.