Colorado Loop – Part 5

Halfmoon Creek Camping

September 20-22nd, 2021

Early on Sunday, the 20th of September, I drove back down from Grand Mesa and turned east onto Interstate 70. I passed through Glenwood Springs and the canyon above. The recent massive mud and rockslides that had closed I-70 for weeks were still evident in Glenwood Canyon. I followed along the Eagle River up to West Vale and the Westside Cafe, arguably the best place for breakfast in the area. An omelet later, I backtracked to the Highway 24 exit where I drove south through Minturn, past Red Cliff and climbed over Tennessee Pass on the way to Leadville.

Leadville, at 10,152 feet above sea level, was first settled in the mid-1800s by gold miners. Gold mining was short lived and was replaced by silver mining in 1876 when lead deposits were discovered to contain a high silver content. Later, during World War II, there was a need for molybdenum, used to harden steel. For a while the Climax Mine above town, produced 75% of the world’s output. Now the economy is maintained by encouraging tourism and outdoor recreation.

My first introduction to the area occurred in 1989 on a backcountry ski trip with friends from Minneapolis. The high elevation made the town a good staging place to acclimate for hut-to-hut trips. At the time, we could rent a local home for little money. Many were vacant due to a downturn in area mining. There were also many trails in the area that provided great day trips on skis and there was always deep snow. A few years later, they began to run the “Leadville 100” mountain bike race, which drew large numbers of bicyclers for summer fun.

Before heading up to find a 3-night campsite, I stopped in at the grocery store to restock my refrigerator. I headed west towards the National Forest campgrounds along the east end of Turquoise Lake. Unfortunately, there was a ridge between the campgrounds and Leadville that blocked the cell phone signal. So, I moved a little south to Halfmoon Creek along the slope of Mount Massive, where I had found dispersed campsites back in July. There I received a good 5G signal that would allow me to connect to the internet so I could log in and work during the day. While I was on vacation the previous week, this week I would need to perform my database administration work remotely.

I found a good site up a 4×4 road above Halfmoon Creek and set up for 3 days. I set my alarm to wake me at 4:45am, as my normal shift in the Easter Time Zone started at 7am. At the elevation of my site, that meant waking up in the dark to log in at a morning temperature of 24 degrees. I had 15 minutes to start my Jet Boil for a cup of coffee that would keep my chilled fingers limber enough to type.

My only visitors for 3 days, were a pair of Steller’s Jays. As my work day was done at 2:00pm, I walked a way up and down the creek, and there were no other campers in the area.

On Tuesday, I made the trip down to Erie, just east of Boulder, to visit my son, see his new townhouse, and stage for the weekend drive back to Michigan.

Next, saying goodbye to things and why it is sometimes harder than saying goodbye to people.