Narrow Gauge Country

September 13-22, 2013

Monday, September 16 - Explore Day

Pitkin - Cumberland Pass

Excitement was high as Day Four dawned. I was returning to Alpine Tunnel and taking my brother with me! Good times!

 

I rented a Jeep Wrangler with the hopes that it would provide a smoother ride than my truck did last time. I was wrong. The truck, while wider and slower, was far more comfortable.

 

Despite the pregnancy and the bumpy ride, Michele hung in there and had a good time.

 

The Denver, South Park & Pacific Depot in Pitkin, Colorado

     
 

 

Heading north from Pitkin. If you're familiar with "Rio Grande Glory Days" by Gil Lathrop, this is roughly the area where a Jourdan Spreader was used to move piles of logs from the ROW.

DISASTER! The road to Alpine was CLOSED!

For several minutes I struggled with what to do, not wanting to concede defeat. We decided

to head back to Pitkin to find a NFS Ranger to ask how bad the road was. It turned out to

be a waste of time. We couldn't find him/her anywhere. So, we resorted to Plan B:

Return to Gunnison via Cumberland Pass

Heading north from Pitkin again, I stopped to check

out this string of old ties slowly rotting away

I wonder if these are original DSP&P ties

 

 

This is a real fixer-upper.

But, it comes pre-furnished with a Christmas Tree.

     

     

     

     

   

Ben

     

 

Success: Cumberland Pass

 

 

Michele

Ben

     

   

At the top we unloaded and had a picnic lunch

Michele started us on the

trip down to Tin Cup

and Jack's Cabin

   

 

Note the mine rails

still in place

Ben and I investigated a mine opening near the road

 

This is the first one I've seen that was open

 

 

 

 

Ben took over and we continued the trip down to Tin Cup

 

   

Church in Tin Cup

   

Ha!

 

Heading towards

Taylor Reservoir

 

     

I'd never heard of Taylor Reservoir before this day. It's a heckuva pretty spot!

     

     

 

 

It had been a long day and by the afternoon we were getting a bit punchy.

When we stopped at the damn for Taylor Reservoir, I went to get a shot of the Jeep.

Here is a short video of Ben... well... it's hard to describe what he's doing...

Ladies, as of this writing, he's single and available.

 

 

The dam at Taylor Reservoir

 

     

     

Michele

 

 

The down-stream side of the dam

     

A bit further down-stream we stopped for more photos.

Ben

Photos from Ben

Last shots for the day... the Taylor River

 

We didn't do what we set out to do, but it was still an absolutely fantastic day in the high country of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

 

We joined Chris and Karen at Garlic Mike's in Gunnison that evening for dinner. The food is great. We'll definitely be going back.

 

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10