Caribou, Colorado

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So it was a hot, hot day in the flat lands around Boulder, Colorado and some friends and I decided to cool off in the foothills west of Nederland. We drove up Boulder Canyon and stopped at Barker Reservoir, which feeds the city of Boulder, to see the water rushing over the top of the reservoir walls. All that snow this winter and spring is making for dangerously high water levels and rushing rivers and creeks.
We drove on to the former silver-mining town of Caribou, now a ghost town. Caribou was established about 1870 to house miners from the nearby Caribou silver mine. Today only two stone ruins and one collapsed wooden cabin remain of the town. The mine was deserted for years until 1970 when a 19-year old gegology student became convinced that the mines could make a profit. He bought the old Cross mine in 1973 and the Caribou mine in 1980. Becuase of the low silver prices in recent years he has struggled to keep them both open.
At 10,000 ft our group decided that we were cool enough and started a three hour hike over snow pack and an old unmaintained mining road. The muddy trails brought us to fabulous views of the Indian Peaks range and beyond. We had achieved our goal of cooling off and resisted the urge to glissade the snow fields on our way back down to Caribou. Beautiful day and only 45 minutes from home!!

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