Well, we are back! Met up with Ace in Debeque Thursday morning and headed off to Georgetown after a brief respite in Idaho Springs for the obligatory Beaujo's mountain pizza! Once in Georgetown we headed up Guanella Pass and onto the trail that took us up to the Argentine Mine and the remnants of the Waldorf ghost town. Back in the late 90's an attempt to re-open the mine was made and I had the pleasure of meeting a few of the workers who were cleaning up and remodeling some of the old buildings. It appeared that attempt was abandoned but their efforts were still visible in the old bunkhouse. At that time, a large sign was hung over the bunkhouse door that said Santiago Argentine Mine. It is now gone. However, the old sluice box in the Mill was still intact.
We then headed over Guanella Pass and down to the lower meadow where we camped for the night. I last camped there in 1993. In the morning we headed up the trail that took us up to Geneva City at the end of the trail in the highest basin in the area. Turned out to be the trail I remembered from 20 years ago. We did find the old widow's cabin and it was in far worse condition than the last time I visited there. Ask me about it in person next time I see ya and I'll give ya some interesting history about it. Beautiful area.
After Geneva City, we finished Guanella Pass and headed west on Hwy 285 to tour around the small town of Como. Como is still inhabitated and as we stopped in front of the old train roundhouse, the caretakers came out and invited us in for a private tour. What an interesting place and a great opportunity!
