A great day with the St. George Jeepers

 A trip to Lion's Mouth Cave with petroglyphs,

Desert Mounds Mine,

Old Iron Town

Page Ranch House

This brick home was built in 1898 with the bricks that were made 

and fired from clay behind the house.

The house served as an informal hotel for travelers and as a boarding house 

for men working in the nearby mines.

Lion's Mouth Cave

As we approach the rock formation from the road, 

with a little imagination you can see a lion's head and open mouth.

There was a short hike to get to the cave that has the petroglyphs.

 

There are such pretty views from the cave.

Actually, they are pictographs.

The markings of the natural stone are interesting!

I think the kids scrambled up easier than the rest of us!

We always enjoy these excursions.

Desert Mounds Mine

Then a short drive into the mountains west of Cedar City 

with an open pit mine that has some of the richest iron ore deposits 

in the United States.

The deposits were discovered in the 1870's but did not start producing iron 

until 1924 and are now not being mined because of 

lower production costs overseas.

Old Iron Town

Beehive Style Charcoal Kiln 

(these kilns named Utah as 'the beehive state')

This produced charcoal from the local juniper and pinon pine trees.

The charcoal was used to smelt the iron ore into pig iron.

(pig iron??- look it up!😊)

Foundations left over from the Old Iron Town,

now on the Register of Historic Places.

We had a wonderful day with the 

St. George Jeepers!

Capitol Reef National Park- Pickin' Peaches

This is one of our favorite things to do when the timing is right!

Today, the orchards are preserved and protected as part of the 

Fruita Rural Historic Landscape listed on the 

National Register of Historic Places.

Park staff maintain the historic character of these extensive orchards using heritage techniques. The same flood irrigation ditches pioneers dug in the 1880s water the trees today. Pioneers sometimes lost trees and entire orchards to floods and droughts.

We enjoy the picking and the eating!!

Oh, these are so good and juicy!

It reminds us of the times we could pick the ripe mangos in Hawaii.

(juice running down our faces😂)

We managed to get a short drive before the rain started, 

but were not able to hike to the Cassidy Arch.

It is said that the arch is named for Butch Cassidy  

who used to hide out in the canyon's nooks and crannies with the Sundance Kid.

We didn't attempt to hike the trail because storm warnings abounded.

( it's good to stay in when it rains for the whole day)

 

Telluride and Silverton Colorado

 OURAY

A frequent sighting in Ouray

This one has munched his way along the fence on the side, 

now he's heading to the back yard.

TELLURIDE

The free gondola rides are a treat and the scenery is incrdible.

Note the airport in the distance. 

Tanya used to fly in here.

Views from the top remind us being in the alps.

(we don't really know, it just seems like it1)

Such stunning views!

( The back road from Telluride to Ouray)

On to Silverton

In the midst of all these old mines,

a tour is just the thing!

Required apparel

We rode 1/3 mile into the mine, 

then walked to see functioning equipment

with audience participation!

The drive back to Ouray has some magnificent scenery.

These red mountains produced millions in gold ore in the mining era.

This campground has the best view of all!

(maybe next time)

We head back to Utah tomorrow

and we are looking forward to seeing all of you!

Cumbres & Toltec Railroad

CUMBRES & TOLTEC RAILROAD

This train is America's highest and longest narrow gauge railroad.

Both Durango to Silverton and the Cumbres & Toltec were important parts of transporting silver from the mining camps to Denver.

Now they are a strictly scenic and enjoyable remnant of our history.

This narrow gauge train runs from Chama, New Mexico to Antonito, Colorado

and crosses the border 11 times.

There are many curves and switchbacks in order to get to the elevation of 10,022 ft

in the 64 mile trek. (at a no more than 4% grade)

 

The scenery varies from flat prairie, high desert, to pine forests with deep gorges  (Toltec gorge) and beautiful valleys

Passengers are anxious to grab the leaves for a souvenir.

Grab the rocks?  Not so much.

Toltec Gorge

Beautiful views abound!

Intersection of the highway and train track:

The road from Chama to Antonito takes 1 hour,

the train trip takes all day!

The steam engines require LOTS of water to operate.

These water tanks are all along the way.

We had to stop to fill several times,

It takes about 2500 gallons of water.

An emergency water buggy always follows about a mile behind to put out any fires that may start from the coal cinders.

He carries about 250 gallons of water.

When we approached Cumbres Pass (10,022 ft) 

"that little engine couldn't"  make it up the rest of the grade,

so it detached and a bigger engine took over.

"This little engine could"

Note the coal behind the engine--the trip requires 3 tons of coal loaded into the boiler and one person is required to shovel for the entire trip! 

Railroad families used to live in these buildings.

They needed a good amount of supplies for the winter months, as the winter snows could shut you in for a long time.

Children usually rode the train down to the city to go to school, stayed with family or friends then rode home at the end of the week.

Heading down the hill required lots of braking and the smell was awful!

The trip was terrific - a very nice day 

and we highly recommend the ride.