Last night we camped high in the mountains. We were almost as high as the Alpine Tundra. The Alpine Tundra is so high, and the air is so thin that trees cannot grow there so the tops of the mountains are bald.
There is an old abandoned mining town up where we camped, named St. Elmo. Almost 25 years ago my parents and grandparents were camping in this campground. It is VERY far away from anything. The next night my mom went in to labor with my sister Elizabeth. My mom was 7.5 months pregnant and fixing to head back to Texas where 6 weeks later she would have her first baby. Elizabeth had other ideas apparently she wanted to be born in Colorado. Thankfully she waited until they were semi-near a hospital before she decided to be born. She was born in Boulder, Co in a hospital where she stayed for nearly a week before being released to fly home with my mom.
Elizabeth woke up early as usual
Matthew was cold so he curled up in a sleeping bag outside in a lawn chair
Daniel woke up and read his Kindle
We started off the day with a hike around the old Iron City Cemetery.
It was a very interesting cemetery. They had a sign at the entrance that told who most of the people where and how they died.
I always wonder how people died when I am walking around a cemetery, especially the young people. There were 2 brothers buried here that both died of Typhoid fever one died when he was 14 and the other when he was 10 but they died 7 years apart.
Then there was this gravestone it read “Here Lies Lester Moore 4 slugs from a 44 no less no more ” kinda weird I wonder if it is a joke but the wooden grave marker looks really old.
Then we went in to the old town of Saint Elmo. St. Elmo is one of the most intact ghost towns in the west and most of the buildings have not been altered since they were constructed. The city was originally named Forest City but Forest City California was already in existence so the post office would not allow the name so the town was renamed St. Elmo.
This is an old water pipe that used to supply the city with water
These are their ballot instructions in Italian
The school with a HUGE stove to keep the kids warm
After walking around St. Elmo for a while we decided to take a rocky mountain road up to the mining town of Hancock. Hancock was most likely established in 1800 and have numerous buildings(saloons, resterrants, a train depot, telegraph office, mining shacks and cabins). At the elevation of 11,027 feet living conditions were harsh so the town was short lived.
all that is left of the town are these remnants of one of the Saloons
Me at Hancock with the mountains
SNOW on the mountains
This is a dirt road that we made it up part of the way but had to turn around b/c our van did not have the clearance to make it up and over the rocky areas.
after we left the mountains we drove to Colorado Spring where we are camped and spending the night at a private campground with SHOWERS, flush toilets and even a laundry room so my mom, dad and sister are doing laundry while I post my blog :)
