Independence Pass – 12,095 feet
view from Independence Pass
We had another incredible day –
The day began as we broke camp along Chalk Creek at the base of Mt. Princeton (in the San Isabel National Forest just south of a trailhead for Colorado Trail, which we walked for only a few miles)
Mt. Princeton shrouded in clouds
Chalk Creek roars by our campsite
and ended camped off a National Forest Service road above Turquoise Lake just outside Leadville Colorado:
check out the view from our “dispersed campsite”
Leadville is a hardscrabble old mining town, but it is surrounded by incredible beauty.
Too bad the federal money (and Big Ag corporate subsidies) spent by the Bureau of Reclamation building dams, fake lakes (reservoirs) and other absurd irrigation and boondoggle water infrastructure couldn’t instead be spent on improving the lives of the mostly poor people who live there.
We’re in Boulder today, waiting for our bike to arrive and be re-assembled at the local bike shop.
Take a look at one of our better days (and I left out the reservoir we swam in and a lovely stroll through Twin Lakes):
more from the top of Independence Pass
headwater stream of the Arkansas River, draining Mt. Ebert
we stealthed just off a forest service road. Had to negotiate with a nearly homeowner. Chalk Cliffs in background.
Boie on guard – waiting for nightfall and coyote’s. He managed to worm his way into and slept in the tent with me!