Hoosier Pass, Colorado (June 2013)

Written by ceddammit

Another Thursday, another mountain pass. Yes, my folder fulla unprocessed photos tells me that the next hike I went on after Vail Pass, was Hoosier Pass. For this hike, I was with a bunch of strangers. Thanks to Meetup.com, I have been on probably half a dozen such hikes, both in Colorado and in North Carolina. I wouldn’t even have known this trail existed if I hadn’t joined this Meetup Group. Hoosier Pass is a gorgeous area, yet I had never explored it. As it turns out, there was a bit of gold mining at this pass back in the day. I hope you enjoy the trip. I did!

Looking north from Hoosier Pass
Note the black CIA helicopter in stealth mode
Sun and cloud working together to highlight one of the old mines
Piles of deceased ore
No mine remnants in this shot; just scenery

We haven’t gone all that far yet, and the trail hasn’t been too steep, but it’s easy to get tired at 11,700 feet. I decided to lag behind the rest of the group and get some pictures around the old gold mines…

Remains of…a vehicle…of some sort?
Foundations and scenery
…and now just the scenery…
Looking up the mountainside at a pair of old mine entrances
Ore cart
Takes a lickin’ and keeps on, um, laying there
A couple fellers checking out the tailings
There were probably a couple of big heavy machines bolted to this foundation.
The concrete slab with an iron grate is a “sealed” vertical mine shaft.

There are actually multiple trails in this area, so we returned to the parking lot via a different trail than the one we had come up, leading to yet more great scenery…

This is the group I was hiking with.
Truly an alpine wonderland!

That’s all for today! Come back next Thursday, when I’ll be retracing the route of the first of my “Leftover Colorado” tours.

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