Still catching up, this adventure happened about 2 weeks ago. And heads up it’s a long post cause it was an all day adventure.

As my friend was going to be leaving in a few days, I laid out some options of adventures that we could embark. Idaho Springs, Colorado was the winner. We had wanted to drive Mt Blue Sky (formerly Mt Evan’s) but discovered it was closed. Well my friend did, she is not as impulsive as me, she checks out logistics and stuff before leaving, I just hop in the car and hope for the best.

We plugged in “Idaho Springs” into the robot and put the waters and snacks within reach and we were off on an adventure.

Our drive was breathtaking and heartbreakingly beautiful. Black Hawk, Colorado is a super small town that is almost a twin city with Central City, Colorado. In the 2020 census, the population was 127 people. That makes Black Hawk the least populous city in Colorado. Central City is slightly larger with their 2020 population being 779. Driving through Black Hawk was tricky, you’re driving on a state highway, suddenly buildings look as if they are coming out of the mountains! A little village is basically all casinos and hotels. This was a mining town as well, it sprouted up in the early days of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush.

There is quite a bit of history here and I want to explore and learn more, but we were on a mission, (not from God, just us) to get to Idaho Springs.

I have to tell you, there are some things that I am pretty fearless about, something’s it’s not so much fearless, but free-spirited, some may say carefree, a impulsive nature … but it’s probably, and most likely, something akin to …foolhardiness. I have driven in areas of various cities to see clients that were not exactly welcoming because I was not going to purchase the “items” they were “selling”. I have driven to small border towns plagued with violence from cartels, I have been shot at while visiting a friend’s small business on a reservation, I have driven back roads in Texas and Missouri at night. I have driven over causeways and bridges that span over large bodies of water, all over this country and in several provinces in Canada. My car has been chased by a javelina and a deer and most recently, a couple of elks. But the thing that terrifies me… tunnels. Guess what is all over this roadtrip? Tunnels! A lot of them, it felt like a million, but it was only 5 or 6, but still!!!

In all the years we have known each other, I had never driven in a tunnel with her and the panic was For Real For Real. I know that there is nothing that is going to happen because we don’t live in an action movie, but that is why they are called irrational fears. It’s part of my claustrophobia. But, I had to make it through, because there was no shoulder so we couldn’t swap out and my friend drive. So I drove a little fast to get through and all the while she is cheering me on like I was a toddler trying something new. I eventually got comfortable and didn’t go as fast as I did thru others. But the one of the last tunnels we drove through, as I entered my friend was hyping me up, “You got this, Susan. You’ve been doing great…” and she paused, there was not a light at the end and she said “oh nooo” It was soft, almost a whisper and I, in a half cry, half raised voice answered, “What? What! Wait! There Is No Light!”

“Crap, I said that part out loud…” she cried out.

The tunnel was curved, (my first ever curved tunnel) and with in seconds there was light.

We both started laughing hysterically, laughing so hard we had tears, both of us wiping our faces and trying to catch out collective breath. Sides hurting, we need to find a gas station pretty soon type of laughter. It was as if my panic and her internal thought being outside caused the geyser of laughter and there was no more panic and I barely noticed the next tunnel.

When we first entered Idaho Springs, I noticed the lack of traffic! Unlike Estes Park or Golden, there were not lines of so cars waiting 15 minutes for your turn at the four way stop. There were so many cute motels. They looked retro and kitschy and like the Discovery Channel had come out with a crew to rehab them.

The next thing was the gold mine. The Argo Gold Mine & Mill is also the Argo tunnel. This was built between 183 and 1910 and it allowed for greater volumes to be removed from the mine. It is said that it recovered over $100,000 in gold at its height. That is 11.2 million ounces. By 2023 prices, it would have been valued at $10.1 Trillion. It’s no wonder the town motto is “Where the gold rush began”.

We made our way into the historic downtown and was promptly met with this beautiful train engine.

This steam engine was part of the railway that helped to get mining equipment up the mountain and milled ore taken out. Because it’s in such great shape, many want to retire it for rail use again. Others think it’s just fine, sitting at the edge of the historic area, taking a well deserved rest.

The historic downtown area was very cute and very popular. There was some “traffic” in this area. Parking was at a premium and the pay lot was full, so we contented ourselves withe the drive.

We also found some fabulous Victorian houses, but didn’t feel right taking pictures because they weren’t tourist attractions, they were homes. There were children playing in front yards, some in multiple front yards at once. Little girls being very busy with baby dolls and stuffies, placing them gently in a large hammock only to be interrupted by some little boys (brothers, cousins, friends) and the dollie’s went flying one way and the stuffies the other, terrified screams followed from the girls and peals of laughter from the boys who had just claimed the hammock.

Part of this drive lead us to an unpaved road. We drove on to see how far it would go. Turns out it was Virginia Canyon Road. The road with “Oh My God Views”. We didn’t know that was what they referred to it as when we were driving on it, but they were not wrong. There looked as if they were doing some road work, and we saw a big sign laying out what appeared to be a multi year plan for the area.

It is important to note that this road has ZERO shoulder and ZERO guardrails. But every memory and picture grabbed was worth it and does not do the view justice, but here they are.

After our beautiful experience looking out from these views, we decided to try Mt. Blue Sky, maybe it wasn’t really closed, but alas it was. The rest of the drive was spectacular, seeing Echo Lake and then a drive on the Scenic Byway to head back home. We climbed a bit driving, lots of beautiful view and still quite a bit of snow.

Of course we took way more pictures these, good thing we didn’t run out of film and flash bulbs!

The goal is 60 new things before I turn 60 and I have 43 more to go and I can’t wait!