Lake City, CO (9/25/2018)

Lake City was incorporated in 1873 and is still the only incorporated town in Hinsdale County.  It actually sits in the caldera of an ancient volcano that helped form the San Juan mountains.  The Ute Indians historically lived and hunted in a large area that included the San Juans.  In the 1860s, a treaty with the U.S. gave the lands here to the Utes, allowing European settlers to claim lands in nearby valleys.  However, discovery of gold and silver led to a new treaty that removed the Utes from the San Juans.  Mining was never as productive in Lake City as in other parts of the San Juans, such as Silverton, Ouray and Telluride.  The town did prosper as a supply center for mines in the territory.

When the train came to town in 1889, Lake City had a second boom due to reduced costs of mining and transporting ore.  The population may have reached as many as 5000 people.  Early in the twentieth century, mining had pretty much played out.  Since then, mining activities have been mostly exploration and speculation.  The population shrank to about 400 and has hovered around that mark since.

As mining decreased, the town began a shift toward tourism, marketing their beautiful summer weather for vacations.  The old mining roads through the mountains to Ouray and Silverton were designated as the "Alpine Loop" to attract folks with off-road vehicles.  The loop is 64 miles long, depending on which options are chosen, and includes several mountain passes.  The roads can be very rough and rocky, especially with recent increases in traffic, including ATVs that can travel pretty fast despite the surface conditions.  Wildflowers along these roads can be breathtaking during the Spring, which is July and August.  They are closed by snow most of the year.

On my latest visit, I only drove about ten miles up the Alpine Loop since I had other plans for the day.  My interest was primarily getting some views (and photos) of Fall colors that I knew from experience would be there.  The road is narrow in most places as it winds its way through canyons created by Henson Creek.  There are numerous side roads that I intend to drive some day, but not now.

The "Hard Tack Mine & Museum" was never an actual mine, but it has a tunnel that accessed a real silver mine.  The owners have gathered up mining artifacts for display and offer tours of their tunnel.  Not my kind of place, so I can't say if it is worthwhile.

Continuing on the road, there is a real mining operation that has been abandoned.  Entry to the buildings isn't allowed, but you can see a lot from the outside.  A dam used to create power for the mine is still there, but has a huge hole to prevent water backing up.

This mine, known as the "Ute-Ulay Mine" was productive from the 1870s until 1903.  From then until 1984, operations would sporadically resume, as optimistic miners are always ready to give it a go.  Finally, the property was donated to the town as a historic site.

In 1899, workers became fed up with harsh conditions and being forced to live in the company boarding house (very costly) and buy from the company store (very costly).  A large group of Italian workers went on strike until the governor sent troops to quell the uprising.  Afterward, the company advertised "we can use about 75 men...Italians need not apply".

There was some great color along the mountainsides, and I would have enjoyed going farther.  However, due to time constraints, I turned around at Capitol City, another mine site now simply a ghost town.  Look carefully to spot a couple of very nice modern homes that have started to spring up along this road.  I assume they are used only in summer, as snow gets pretty deep here.

Capitol City building