Playing with Ghost Towns, Campfires and Vail's Two Elks

After spending several days trying to stay afloat during record breaking rainfall along Colorado's front range, we packed up and headed west towards Vail hoping for clear skies and a good romp on the VAIL classic - Two Elks.  We chose to ride it from the rec parking at Vail Pass to Bowman's Shortcut to Two Elks. Totaling roughly 19 miles.

For full description of the this glorious ride explore the interactive map and links to MTBProject below

Team M&M take on Two Elks

Doing some Campfire Magic to Ward the Rain Away - Thomas

Riding Among Aspens - Kristin

Giving the Rain the Middle Finger - Thomas

This Rain isTurning CO into the PNW - Kristin

Town Watering Hole - Red Cliff, CO

Red Cliff,  is a former mining camp situated in the canyon of the upper Eagle River just off U.S. Highway 24 north of Tennessee Pass.  The population was 289 at the 2000 census. The town site is concealed below the highway (which passes over the Red Cliff Truss Bridge).  It was founded in 1879 during the Colorado Silver Boom by miners from Leadville who came over Tennessee Pass scouting for better prospects.

Passing in front of the mighty Gore Range - Kristin

Red Cliff Truss Bridge

Weaving Single track through Outer Mongolia Bowl of Vail Ski Resort - Thomas

Red Cliff Truss Bridge

The Wizard Working His Firebow - Thomas

Abandoned Mining Town - Gilman, CO

Gilman,  founded in 1886 during the Colorado Silver Boom, the town later became a center of lead and zinc mining in Colorado, centered around the now-flooded Eagle Mine. It was abandoned in 1984 by order of the Environmental Protection Agency because of toxic pollutants.  It is currently a ghost town on private property and is strictly off limits to the public.

On February 27, 2008 the Minturn Town Council unanimously approved annexation and development plans for 4,300 acres (17 km²) of Ginn Resorts’ 1,700-unit Battle Mountain residential ski and golf resort; Ginn's Battle Mountain development includes much of the old Gilman townsite.

The townsite is a victim of vandalism, and the town's main street is heavily tagged. There are only a few intact windows left in town, as twenty years of vandalism have left almost every glass object in the town destroyed.
However, many parts of the town are almost as they were when the mine shut down. The main shaft elevators still sit ready for ore cars, permanently locked at the top level. Several cars and trucks still sit in their garages, left behind by their owners.

 Gilman Ghost Playground Girls - Kristin and Anne

 :)