Day Trip: Interlaken and Leadville

The remains of a turn of the century resort named Interlaken sit just 20 miles North of our base camp in Buena Vista, CO. Situated on the shore of Twin Lakes, the resort was built in 1879 and was considered a first class destination until the early 1900's. During WWI the buildings were used as boarding houses and later were abandoned. The home of the resorts owner, John Dexter, is also on the site. Some of the buildings have been relocated about 150 feet away from the lake to protect them from the high water line.

It's an easy 2.2 mile hike along the lake to the resort, through conifer and aspen forest. On the day we hiked the lake was like glass and the clouds provided wonderful mirror images for photos.

Dexter House

Dexter House used to sit 150 feet closer to the lake.
It has been relocated above the high water line.

Interlaken Resort sits just a couple hundred feet beyond Dexter House.
One of the small buildings in the foreground was a chicken coop.
The main resort lodge is the large building on the right.

The front of the lodge is painted white. All of the windows are covered.

The back of the lodge was left natural.

The resort as seen from the waters edge.

One more mirror image because it's just so darn pretty!

After our hike we continued 15 miles North to the historic mining town of Leadville. Situated at 10,152 feet elevation, Leadville is the highest city in the US. Though we didn't tour any of the mining history in the area, we walked main street admiring the many preserved historic buildings and some of the neighborhoods filled with Victorian homes in various stages of preservation or dilapidation. We can highly recommend the pizza at High Mountain Pies.

If you live in Leadville this is your view.
Mt Elbert, the tallest of the fourteeners is here.

Many of the buildings were built with a corner focus.

There was a sign on this building warning of avalanche danger due to the steep roof!

I liked how the trim on the left house matched the sky!

It's a gorgeous drive between Buena Vista and Leadville. The road follows the Arkansas River which is a big fishing destination during the summer. Boulder strewn hills follow the East side of the highway, signs advise you to watch for big horn sheep. The giant mountains of the Rockies line the West side of the highway.

Looking West a few miles South of Leadville.

More Wonderful Hikes Near Buena Vista, CO

Recently I wrote a post describing the two mountain ranges that flank Buena Vista, CO in the San Isabel National Forest. Since we're staying in BV for two weeks, lots more hiking is on the docket...and we have found some beauties!

Kroenke Lake

Kroenke Lake is an eight mile round trip, but is one of the gentlest ascents to 11,500 feet we've ever experienced. And beautiful too! This was the perfect time of year to do this hike; lots of little streams running down the mountain, lots of wildflowers scattered along the trail. Due to monsoon season the last quarter mile or so back to the truck was hiked in the rain.

This trail is popular for both day hikers and those wanting to access the wilderness for backpacking trips. We hiked this trail on Sunday of 4th of July weekend and met a lot of backpackers coming out.

One of the prettiest streams I have ever seen!

Kroenke Lake under a darkening sky.

Beaver pond in the Kroenke Lake basin.

Seen on a Buena Vista ranch.

Buffalo Meadows

The Buffalo Meadows trail lies in the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness to the East of Buena Vista. This mountain range is quite a bit drier than the mountains to the West of town. But this particular trail happens to follow a small creek (four mile creek) that is riddled with beaver dams. The trail first winds in and out of aspen groves, conifer forests and meadows studded with beaver dams. Then there is a serious climb for a mile or so to a saddle just West of the Buffalo Peaks that brings you to 11,500 feet and some wonderful  long distance views.

The last mile to the trail head was a four wheel drive road and this may be why the trail seemed to be very lightly traveled. We hiked this on a Monday and never saw another person on the trail. We hoped to see large mammals since we were so remote, but alas saw only a couple of amphibians.

Looking South from the saddle through layers of mountains and building clouds.

Looking North from the saddle into Buffalo Meadows.

An endangered Boreal Toad.

On our way back down the mountain we paid closer attention to all the beaver dams and many of them seemed to be abandoned.

Old beaver dam, no longer holding any water.
This was one of probably a dozen abandoned beaver dams we saw.

Lots of old beaver cut tree stumps.

Another old, overgrown, empty beaver dam.

We stopped to observe another possible beaver site about a mile from the trail head and happened to look down the slope we were standing on and to our great surprise we saw freshly chewed tree stumps! We were so happy to see that the beavers were still active in the area!

Fresh beaver activity!

Someday I'd like to catch a beaver in action!

We're happy to be spending two weeks in Buena Vista, it's a gorgeous area with a great variety of trails. We've had a bit of rain most afternoons or evenings, cooling us down and freshening the place up. I think we landed here at the perfect time of year...though I hear the fall is really pretty, we may just have to come through here again for a comparison!

A Tale of Two Mountain Ranges

Buena Vista, CO is bordered on the East and West by the San Isabel National Forest, but the two mountain ranges look very different. We've hiked both sides during our stay; here's a close up of the differences.

To the West is the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness which contain four 14,000 ft peaks named Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Harvard. The landscape is similar to that which we have hiked as we have traveled across Colorado: conifer covered mountains rising steeply to massive, often pointy, heights.

The Eastern boundary of Buena Vista has peaks that rise to just over 13,000 ft but the terrain consists of rolling foothills studded with giant, rounded granite outcroppings and meadows surrounded by conifer forests that rise more gently to their great height.

First we hiked to Hartenstein Lake, an alpine lake in the Collegiate Wilderness. This six mile RT hike started out steeply from the trail head, but the incline became more gentle over time. There were a couple of easy stream crossings and views into the Collegiate Peaks were wonderful. At this time of year wear mosquito spray!

View South to Mt Princeton on the right.

Hartenstein Lake sits at about 11,500 ft.

Next we headed East, intrigued by the giant boulders and hoping for a respite from the steep climbs that threaten to take our breath away with each ascent into alpine terrain.

The Davis Meadow trail was spectacular in so many ways...We loved the variety of scenery and terrain: damp forest and dry, aspen and conifers, flowers, boulders and historic ruins. AND the incline was gentle! Easy, scenic dirt road access to this 6 mile RT hike. At this time of year mosquito repellent is a good idea.

The trail alternated between lush, damp forest...

And dry, boulder strewn forest.

Giant, pancake layered boulders were nestled among the aspen throughout the trail.

A mix of aspen and conifers along with a green carpet invited us into another portion of the trail.

Head-sized fungus!

Swedish loggers camp from late 1800's.

We had a nice view of the Collegiate Peaks to the West
at our turn around point on the trail.

With such a variety of terrain accessible to us in Buena Vista, we are really enjoying our stay here. We've had rain late every afternoon which helps with the fire danger in the area. Stay tuned for more adventures!

A Buena Vista 4th of July

Leaving Gunnison, we headed East over the Continental Divide to Buena Vista, CO. Though we crossed the Divide, the high desert-like environment we've landed in is very similar to the landscape we just left. Buena Vista sits in the Upper Arkansas River valley and is bounded by the 14,000 foot peaks of the Collegiate Wilderness to the West and the great, rounded boulders of the foothills of the San Isabel National Forest to the East. The area is considered a "banana belt" because the winters are relatively mild compared to other parts of Colorado. Oddly, the locals call their town "Biewna Vista" instead of the Spanish pronunciation as the name is spelled.

The Buena Vista Valley. Collegiate Peaks in the West. Arkansas River is directly below us in the photo

We are now experiencing the typical, daily, late afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains surrounding us, with brief showers dropping welcome moisture and cooling temperatures on Buena Vista as well.

Afternoon thunder clouds are building as we walk downtown enjoying the historic buildings

Buena Vista began in the late 1800's as a railroad town serving the mining operations of the area. Today the railroad is defunct and river sports, mountain climbing, backpacking and hunting are what draws people to the area. The historic downtown strip has several empty storefronts and the town is trying to draw tourist and business focus a couple of blocks East to the riverfront where new businesses and residences and parks are being developed.

These locals are a common sight around town.

There is such a big focus on river sports here that some sections of the Arkansas River have been engineered to enhanced water sports. You can walk a path along the river to check out the white water sections and see folks practicing too.

They did a decent job of keeping a natural look to the river when engineering
it for maximum water sport fun.

This unique stand-up paddle board seems to be made specifically for river use.

Bouldering is popular here too,
a new sport for us to try perhaps???

Buena Vista puts on an "old fashioned 4th of July". Marching bands and cheerleaders were in short supply; here we saw lots of fire equipment, off road vehicles, old cars and farm equipment!

Hans and I are very fortunate to be able to travel as we are; enjoying the amazing variety of people and places and things there are to do in this great and beautiful country we live in.  Happy 4th of July to all!

Campground Review: Tall Texan RV Park, Gunnison, CO

Tall Texan RV Park sits in a lovely shaded glen just a block from the Gunnison River and only a couple of miles North of downtown Gunnison, CO.

There are 90 RV sites situated amongst tall, old cottonwood trees. The trees provided welcome shade during our stay but made it a little bit difficult to get full satellite service. During our stay the trees were "snowing" cotton heavily each day as well as dropping a little bit of sap! Roads and sites are dirt/gravel with some grass, a concrete patio and a picnic table. We had site #64, a nice pull through on the end of a group of sites.

Amenities include laundry, restrooms/showers, wifi, playground, recycling. We got good 4G Verizon signal using our own internet service. There are also a few large tent sites and some cabins for rent.

There is a pretty irrigation ditch running through the park, as well as a pond. Some of the RV sites are situated near the pond, very pretty. The park sits a couple of blocks off of busy Hwy 135, but does get a little road noise from it during the day. It is very quiet at night.

This was a very nice park, the only drawback being the sap falling from the cottonwood trees. Luckily it washes off with a little elbow grease. It is probably only a problem at this time of year. If in the area, we'd likely stay here again.

Site #464.

One of the large tent sites.

Cottonwood lined road through the park.

Office.

Cabins for rent.

The pond covered with cotton!