Friday started out as a lazy day. We decided to sleep in, have a late brunch and simplify things a bit. We decided against both a hard nature hike and the more "suburban" Beaver Valley hikes. Going to Leadville had been on our list of things to do earlier in the week, so we revisited that idea and made the one-hour trip south. Leadville was the center of Colorado mining ages ago, and has a scenic narrow gauge train ride that follows a former route to a mining camp. Leadville also hosts the two highest mountain peaks in the U.S., Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive, both over 14,000 feet in elevation. Leadville is a VERY different place from the resort towns 40 miles north - clearly a town that was once more prosperous, but still very
... read more