Friday, June 23, 2017 - ARRASTRA GULCH

Some of the historic information provided in this blog is from "Backcountry Adventures Colorado" by Peter Massey, Jeanne Wilson, and Angela Titus.  And, as always, Click on the pictures to view a larger size. 

Today's trip found us heading to Arrastra Gulch with Charles and Jane.  Three groups headed three different ways this morning. 

Here are some shots of the old tram.  Back in the old mining days, there were two trams that carried ore to the mill.  It was two miles from the Mayflower Mine and 1.25 miles from the Contention Mine to the mill.  At the end of the day, the miners would ride down with the full buckets of ore, hanging onto the side.  For its age, the tram is in amazing shape:

 This is the mill; has a great tour:

It's a nice ride thru a forest going up.  The Mayflower Mine is off to the right, the Black Prince to the left.  

 Wish the side mirror was not in this shot:

 

 Thinking the Mayflower trail would be blocked by snow, we took the trail to Black Prince today, only to be blocked by a downed tree.  A chance to use the winch and the guys' ingenuity.  Once they had the tree straightened up, it had to be moved to the side of the road which involved a pulley system.  We were joined by a couple on an ATV.  Once past the tree hurdle, we encountered some dead branches sticking out into the trail.  They just snapped those off. 

Finally, our lunch site for the day, Black Prince Mine.  The mine was covered in snow, but the views were awesome.  Also used to be some old buildings here, but they have all collapsed.  Older blogs will actually have pictures of the buildings and us standing inside the mine.

 

After lunch, Charles & Jane headed up the mountain to see if we could get to Gold Lake in the Little Giant Basin.  They radioed down that the ledge road was blocked by snow.  Charles turned around & headed down.  Jane walked.  That's his yellow Jeep in the center of the picture:

Next challenge, an ATV that wouldn't run at this altitude (12,200 feet).  We pulled him part way down until he was able to keep his engine running. 

Of ALL the trails out here, this is my least favorite spot.  The trail makes a turn around a rock that juts out:  

... And once you make the turn, you must make sure you don't put your tire on the washout on the right:

Finally at the bottom of the trail, and one of my favorite rides along the Animas River.  Enjoying it while we can because there are plans to put a railroad on the trail to haul tourists between Silverton and Animas Forks:   

Back home & ready for the evening.  Friends have sighted a moose with two babies, a large brown bear, and a herd of elk.  We must keep our eyes open.  There is bear poop in front of our RV.