St. Elmo

Day two in Buena Vista found us heading 20 miles southwest to the ghost town of St. Elmo.  It was a gorgeous day, perfect for driving up the mountainside to the mostly abandoned town.

The mining town was in its peak in the 1890s.  I found it a little odd for it to be considered a ghost town since there are still some people who reside there.  The store below had a sign hanging it it stating, "We are closed for the winter.  We will reopen May, 2013".  I'm guessing it was put up on Sept. 30th and we missed the cutoff by only a couple of days.

A sign showed that Tincup Pass was only 6 miles further up the road, but it is narrow, rocky and probably can only be used by Jeeps or ATVs.   Definitely not our type of road.

Even though all the buildings look deserted, numerous signs say they are all privately owned and stated for visitors to stay on the dirt road.  I obliged.  Most of the people who lived here during St. Elmo's prime worked in the mines.  The Mary Murply Mine alone recovered over $60 million in gold during its operation.  This was once a booming town filled with a bawdy, boisterous, and mostly male population.

 Tourism still draws people to the town, even though the last 6 miles of road to St. Elmo are unpaved.  We were both surprised at the amount of traffic that came up the mountain, supposedly all people like us, seeking out historic or unusual places.

The little house below is the Heightly Cottage, built in 1881.  Most of the buildings here have small wooden plaques stating the name and year they were constructed.  The fence looks a bit newer than 131 years old.  It sure could use some straightening.

 Looking down the street, the wooden sidewalks conjured up thoughts of how useful they were when the streets were mired in mud and the best  only place to walk was on the boards.

A view of the town, looking down from the far end.

This little cabin had a sign on it that it is available to rent.  Looks pretty small to me, and I doubt if it has indoor plumbing, one thing that is an absolute must for Don and me. 

 But it comes with its own fresh water supply!  A pump right on the front porch!  No need to bring your own bottle water.....just lean forward out of your chair and start pumping!

As we wandered around, I did find some cabins occupied, and one had fireplace going.  It would be interesting to see what it looked like on the inside.

 As we drove back down the mountain, we had a nice view of blue waters of  Alpine Reservoir and the glorious foliage.