Southwest 2025-6: Colorado: Family, Friends, Mining Towns, the Rockies, & VanWorks.

 May 3-10, 2025

Eastern Rockies near Breckenridge CO.

    After a week of exploring the Santa Fe and Taos area, our original thought had been to head north to Colorado to Durango and the Million Dollar Highway. Winter, however, was still in full swing. We had no reservations, so we invented Plan B: visit family and friends in the Boulder-Denver area and then head for the mountains. 

Radomes, Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora CO. Resembling giant golf balls, radomes protect tracking & communication equipment, part of  Buckley's threat detection mission. 

    Marilyn found a campsite at the last minute (of course) at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora. Staying at military base campgrounds is another benefit of Doug's military service. Marilyn led us on a thorough campground tour until we finally located our site. Doug walked to the nearby hosts' site to check us in, which led to a lengthy exchange of military experiences and lots of laughter.

Buckley Space Force Base Campground.

Sunset at Buckley.

    In the morning, we rendezvoused with Alexa, Harper, and Beckett, Marilyn's niece and children, at the Aurora Sports Complex literally next to the military base.

Beckett (center) in a very competitive soccer match.

    We always love visiting Alexa and family. Unfortunately, her husband, Michael, was in India as part of a humanitarian mission, and Asher was away at college. But Harper was home from college for just a couple of days before heading to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, and Beckett is in high school.

Doug & pups.

    The visit included a day with VanWorks in Fort Collins, the company that did our van conversion. We'd discovered on a cold morning earlier in the trip that our heater did not work. Though booked solid, VanWorks said to come on in and they'd take a look at the electric system.

Chris & Country at Van Works checking out electric system while Marilyn checks Victron app.

Country & Doug discuss while Chris gets to check in the van garage.

    The guys at VanWorks found the problem, and as usual would not charge us. So we tipped Chris and Country and got a gift certificate at the next door brew pub for Barry, Production Manager, who'd helped us design our van in 2019. He popped out to see us, gave Marilyn a big hug, and of course told us the gift was unnecessary.

Doug, Chris, Country.

      We cannot say enough about the customer service, professionalism, and expertise that VanWorks has offered since the day we stepped into their facility 6 years and 83,000 miles ago. And the sights we have enjoyed in this amazing van: priceless.

Next was a stay with Judy & Brian, friends from home who'd moved to Arvada a number of years ago. 

Denver from Judy & Brian's back yard.

Lots of goldfinches at the feeder, a treat for us as they are rare at home.

Sunset. 

    It was wonderful, as always, being with Judy & Brian. Then, with a favorable weather report, we were off back south.

Near Golden CO, Eastern Rockies Corridor.

Clear Creek, formerly Vasquez Creek, in which gold was discovered, starting the Colorado Gold Rush in the mid-19th century.

Mine Tailings.

    Gold was discovered near Central City in 1859, during the Pike Peak Gold Rush, leading to a population boom to 15,000 people. Today's population is under 1,000, with tourism and casinos the main sources of income.

Casey St, downtown Central City.

Former stables on Eureka St.

At 8,500 feet, there was still snow on the hillsides.

Eureka St. Gilpin History Museum, former Court House, on left.

Sweet Shoppe on Main Street.

Central City history mural.

Most of our trip we were at 7,000 feet & above, with frequent steep descents & ascents, along with lots of curvy roads. 

    Next stop was Leadville, another mining town, about 80 miles southwest of Central City. We picked up I-70 near Idaho Springs.

 

Displays & personnel all had a sense of humor at the Idaho Springs Sinclair station.

    George Jackson, a Missourian and cousin of Kit Carson, discovered gold in Clear Creek (then called Vasquez) in 1859, in the area that would become Idaho Springs. It began the Colorado Gold Rush.

Today's Idaho Springs population is under 2,000. In the early 1900s, it had risen to 2,500.

Former Argo Gold Mine & Mill, Idaho Springs.

    The Argo Tunnel extended from Idaho Springs 4.2 miles to Central City. The tunnel and the mill at its mouth operated from 1893 until being flooded in 1943. Today you can tour the mill and tunnel.

I-70 en route to Leadville, another former gold mining town.

Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel.

    The result of 50 years of planning, the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels made it possible to travel safely from the east to the west side of the Rocky Mountains. The 1.7-mile-long tunnels were bored through the Continental Divide at more then 11,100 feet. The west-bound Eisenhower tunnel opened in 1973 after 5 years of construction. The east-bound Johnson bore was begun in 1975 and completed in 1979. 

Did we say the road is steep?

Descending from the 11,000+ foot high tunnels.

    We left I-70 for a wonderful winding road through the Tenmile Range of the Rockies.

Tenmile Creek Tailings Pond.

    Tailings Ponds are part of a reclamation project of Climax Mine molybdenum mining in the Tenmile Range of the Rockies. 

Aerial view of Climax Mine on Fremont Pass (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun). 

Molybdenum has been extracted by the Climax Mine for over a century, resulting in huge cuts into the earth, as it takes 20 pounds of ore to produce 5 pounds of molybdenum.

Fremont Pass elevation on our GPS, the highest pass of our trip.

Fortunately we spotted the moose ahead in the road & he decided to cede it to us.

    Leadville is about 1,500 feet higher than Central City. Discovery of gold near the town in 1860 increased its population to 10,000. When silver was discovered in 1877, the town grew to 30,000.

    A little Leadville history: Margaret Tobin Brown, the "Unsinkable Molly Brown," haled from Leadville. With her fortune made from silver, and being one of the few survivors of the Titanic, she established the Survivors Committee, championed the Women's Vote, engaged in multiple philanthropic endeavors, and, in 1914, was the first woman to run for Congress.

    An infamous Leadville resident was John Henry "Doc" Holliday, who was granted sanctuary in Colorado after the OK Corral shootout in Tombstone, Arizona.

Despite the wind & cold, Leadville was a joy to explore, especially since we were there during shoulder season.

  

Victorian homes with gingerbread trim in Leadville.

  

Former American National Bank.

Leadville's annual Ski Joring race in March features horses pulling skiers on a downton obstacle course with large jumps.

    After wandering and caffeinating, it was time to continue heading south. The drive to Grand Villa took us into the stunning San Luis Valley, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east and the San Juan Mountains to the west.

The 80-mile drive from Leadville to Villa Grove offered more beautiful scenery.

San Luis Mountains on west side of San Luis Valley.

The road follows the Arkansas River.

Elk herd.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains on east side of San Luis Valley. Pictures don't do the land justice, yet recall the breathtaking beauty.

    We'd called ahead to San Luis Valley Campground. They were not officially open for the season but said they could put us in a tent spot, which is all we ever need.

Though closed we observed others also camped in the tent area & road construction crews were set up for the long run in the RV area.

An amazing campground. Pictures taken from our site.

San Luis Valley Campground, Villa Grove CO.

We drove back north a bit to Salida the next day.

It seems a good bet that Colorado cows are as happy as California cows, at least when the snow stays in the upper elevations.

We arrived in Salida in time for breakfast at Robin's on the South Arkansas River.

Wood & rock art.

Riverside Park on the Arkansas River, Salida CO.

Surf's up! Scout Wave had a lot of activity.

Something for everyone & beast along the river at Salida Park.

Rafters.

Climbing wall & playground in background.

Doug taking it all in.

Marilyn taking it all in.

Van in Salida.

We so loved the surroundings of San Luis Valley Campground that we reserved a 2nd night.

We got just a little snow.

Another gorgeous sunset.

    Spring having convinced winter to move aside—it was nearly mid-May, after all— we could now head to our original destination of two weeks before: southwest to Durango and a turn back north to the Million Dollar Highway.

Southwest 2025-6: 8 days/935 mi

Our entire Southwest 2025 trip: 6.5 weeks/6,274 mi.

Southwest 2025: 6-1/2 weeks. 6,273.5 miles. (1) Visalia CA-Green River UT. (2) Green River-Ship Rock NM. (3) Ship Rock-Aldo Leopold Wilderness. (4) Leopold-Carrizozo. (5) Carrizozo-Taos. (6) Taos-Grand Villa CO. (7) Grand Villa-Green River UT. (8) Green River-Kanab. (9) Kanab-Kanab. (10) Kanab-Bridgeport CA. (11) Bridgeport-Visalia.