Como visit 2017, What to see?

[Don Gustavson II]

My Father and I will be in Como on July 15th to work on the railroad.
We will have some extra days after that to go explorer.

Want to know of things we should really try and see, photograph, measure.  Looking for suggestions?
Plan to ride the train in Leadville and Georgetown. Is it worth it?
Any Mine tours we should check out ?
Should we spend some time at the South Park Historical Foundation in Fairplay?

We plan to head South (285) through Fairplay, over to St Elmo.
Then back up through Buena Vista and Leadville. (24) Want to see the Colorado Midland tunnels.
Then up to Georgetown via (70).
Then on to Idaho Springs and back to Denver.
Will check out Morrison on the way to, or back from Como.

Would love to get up to Alpine tunnel. Not sure we will have time or the vehicle to do that.

Something like this..

[Lee Gustafson]

Don,

You may want to check out Guanella Pass road from Georgetown south to Grant where it joins Colorado 285. The pass road is 22 miles long and under typical condition takes about and hour to drive. At the top of the pass on the south side you get an excellent view of South Park. Check local conditions but it is passable in an automobile and 4 wheel drive is not required.

Lee Gustafson

[ComoDepot]

Guanella is paved, we went over a month or so back for a meeting in Silver Plume.

I would go for the Loop rather than Leadville.

Assuming weather OK the hike to the Alpine Tunnel.

And of course Boreas.

[Jeff Young]

Leadville train is diesel, which doesn’t really do it for me.  I think Georgetown run both.  Cumbres and Toltec is waaaaay better, but certainly a longer drive.

Definitely drive over Boreas Pass.  (And stop and check out the rebuilt track at Windy Point.)

St. Elmo is definitely worth a visit.  Haven’t been to Alpine Tunnel myself, but the other side is the one you want to see.

Looking forward to meeting you Don.  (I’ll be there for 2/3 of the day on the 15th.)

Cheers,

Jeff.

On 7 Jul 2017, at 13:38, ComoDepot [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Guanella is paved, we went over a month or so back for a meeting in Silver Plume.

I would go for the Loop rather than Leadville.

Assuming weather OK the hike to the Alpine Tunnel.

And of course Boreas.

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NAML

[ComoDepot]

Jeff, any update on how many sleepers you can bring? 1.9m x.2m x.15m is what we need.

[Jeff Young]

I’ll assume that’s for Jeff Ramsey.  (I tried to bring a few over on the plane, but they wouldn’t fit in overhead storage.)

On 7 Jul 2017, at 14:52, ComoDepot [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Jeff, any update on how many sleepers you can bring? 1.9m x.2m x.15m is what we need.

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NAML

[ComoDepot]

Jeff just left heading to Denver to pick up some switch plates, could be wrong but do not think he does metric.

Nice to has some Irish ties. Not the ones around your neck.

Looks like we have some Irish mist heading our way, did you hear about the fire in Breck?

[Jeff Young]

Yeah, we arrived yesterday.  Even by then there wasn’t much smoke to see.  It’s giving a reasonable impression of rain here now, so I expect it'll be fairly well diminished.

On 7 Jul 2017, at 15:04, ComoDepot [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Jeff just left heading to Denver to pick up some switch plates, could be wrong but do not think he does metric.

Nice to has some Irish ties. Not the ones around your neck.

Looks like we have some Irish mist heading our way, did you hear about the fire in Breck?

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NAML

[Robert McFarland]

Damage to the Palisades rock wall means that you will have to walk from Woodstock Loop to the Tunnel.Same from Hancock to the east portal

[Don Peterson]

Don,
While driving south out of Fairplay, follow the signs and take a left on hwy 9(?) towards Hartsel. You will go through Garo and the by the Turner store. You will end up in the town of Hartsel where there is still the Midland depot and a few other out buildings. You can then turn back around and head back south on Hwy 24 (following the Midland grade on your right for a ways) which will take you back to 285 just north of Trout Creek pass. Its a quick 45 minute detour but lots to see.

[ComoDepot]

The store is supposed to be being restored as a pot shop. I thought the Midland was on the left?

[Don Gustavson II]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.
I am re-calculating my route.

[Robert McFarland]

If you're heading from Hartsel to Antero Jct on 24 the grade will be on the right for at least part of the way.

[Robert McFarland]

While travelling down 9 near Garo visit the Rocky Mountain Land Library at the siteof the old Guiraud ranch

[Chris Walker]

Don,

since you were headed West from Morrison along 285 might I suggest taking the Foxton road just past Conifer to bring you down onto the Platte river and follow the roadbed from there, through Foxton, Riverview, Buffalo and Pine?  I don't know about the roadbed west of Pine is driveable since I returned to 285. Look for the tank footings at Riverview and Dome Rock is only a 4 mile backtrack from where the Foxton road meets the Platte.

You also asked about mine tours:

I'd suggest the Lebanon tour that is an extra $ part of the Georgetown Loop trip, this is well worth it and is a fairly dry easy walk in type of mine drive.  Unless you are tall, since 5'5" would be about the height of the back there.  There is also another mine recently opened for touring at the loop but I have no experience of that.  In Breckenridge out on the French Gulch road there is the Country Boy mine tour.  This is another flat mine drive type but somewhat higher timbering.  They now have a Motor visible on their webpage, so the tour maybe with a minetrain.  Finally the best mine tour by far is the Molly Kathleen at Cripple Creek which is a bit out of the way but so worth it.  This is a vertical shaft, some 900 to1800 ft down depending on your tour guide's knowledge, the cage is a bit of a squeeze but there is a compressed air-powered tram ride below with a working explanation of mine equipment, just make sure you take earplugs  since it is very difficult to photograph/film and block both ears at once.

As for the train trips, GTL is great, the L,C&S is longer at a more relaxed slower pace, remember even if it is diesel powered, it still runs on the roadbed of the DSP&P  

If you're going as far as St Elmo, it isn't much of a walk up from Hancock to Atlantic at the East Portal.  This is the lesser visited part, some awesome scenery to be seen with the r-o-w.  Depending on the weather, if you are fit, hike over to Alpine, that's only a short breathless hike.



http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/44072/rec/7

[Robert McFarland]

If you're going that far take US 50 over Monarch Pass to Parlin and take the black top to Ohio City.Pitkin,and the grade up to the west side of Alpine Tunnel.Due to damage to the rock wall at the Palisades,you'll have to walk the rest of the way from Woodstock Loop to the Tunnel,roughly the same distance as from Hancock to the east portal.

[Jim Courtney]

And when you climb over Kenosha Pass on 285, be sure to take the Forest Service road to the camp ground at the summit (left turn, going west). Park and explore the rebuilt tail track of the C&S wye, and walk along the grade to the little lake. Spectacular scenery on a clear day!

[Keith Hayes]

Or...you can start at Hancock, hike to East Portal, scramble over the hill, surprise the heck out of everyone at Alpine Tunnel (break for lunch and enjoy the sights), walk downgrade to the Palisades, then head back up over the wagon road through a beautiful valley to your ride at Hancock.

My patented and most favorite hike.

[Robert McFarland]

You must be a glutton for punishment.

[South Park]

  Or you could just park your sorry #@! in a chair and play TrainSim, right ?

  I'll take the hike !