And as quickly as it came, summer was just about over. We had a few days available to us to go camping one more time before Nikolas went back to school. We headed up to our favorite state park: Hecla Junction.
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| Camping Kitty- Abby |
I couldn't wait to go back to that road....the one that I thought was going to kill us. When I say a picture doesn't do it justice, I mean it-- not even CLOSE. I have to say that I enjoyed WALKING up it much more than the experience we had in the truck last time. We were also able to see so much more and get off of the road and explore.
We discovered several old shacks. So cool!
So, the last time we drove up the road for the 0.8 miles to the Mary Murphy Mine, we didn't really know if we saw the mine or not. This trip, we had no doubt that we finally got to see the mine. As we walked up the hill from the shack in the previous pictures, out of the clearing came this HUGE building. It was awesome! Folks, here you have it, the Mary Murphy Mine.
Maybe our house isn't in need of as much repair as we thought. Look at this one!
Let your imagination run wild with this!
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| inside..... |
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| outside. |
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| A crystal clear creek and grassy hillside with assorted flowers-- so serene! |
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| Down, down, down the hill. |
On our drive back down the mountain, we saw even more old buildings.
Look at the lack of foundation and stability on this one!! I told Sven to drive by it fast....just in case!
Nikolas was eager to finish our 'ghost town'ing and get fishing. This lake is so pretty snuggled right in the middle of two mountain ranges. Too bad the fish weren't biting....hour after hour after hour.
Yay! No burn ban! Bring out the marshmallows and burgers!!
When we go camping, we try to do a little bit of everything to please each of us. The last day of the trip was for Sven. We hiked up a mountain in his hunting area so he could become more familiar with the terrain. We almost made it up to the top of an 11,000' mountain. It was a CHORE! At sea level, we had no mountains and plenty of oxygen. This was not the case here! I practically had to push Nikolas up the mountain and Sven pretty much had to push me up it! I must say it was beautiful though....and I'm glad I don't have to go back in the fall to hike up it with Sven when he goes hunting!!
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| We think this may have been another mine. |
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| He sure did great considering his little legs are even shorter than mine! |
This is what Hecla Junction looks like from a day-use perspective. Rafts, buses, more rafts, more buses. It's quite a busy little port! It's also amazing how quiet the campground is just up the hill from all this commotion.
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| It's so fun to hear the excitement of the rafters as they finish their leg of the river. |
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| The LIFE! |
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| Check out that tongue of hers! |
Well, we've loved our camping trips this summer in Colorado. Now that school is in session, we're counting down the months until we can head out into the mountains again!
