Ghost Town #1 Summitville

Our family took a snowmobile trip up to Summitville last weekend.  It was a long ride and a beautiful trip up a winding mountain pass.  The below-zero nights paired with days in the high 40's, created the most incredible, crystaline snow we have ever seen.  Trying to capture the snow crystals on camera was difficult, although we managed to get a few beauties. 

When we ride, we never know what will be around the next corner.  Three feet of fresh powder at one turn and then NO SNOW around the next.  You see, the conditions at 12,000 feet are interesting.  The intense sun can melt away snow, leaving the "shadow powder" deep and trecherous.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to make that journey on horseback in the 1870's.

Needless to say, we were all feeling a little discouraged as we gained altitude.  Where is this town?  Will there be any buildings left?  After a few stops, and a mission to reach one of the last ghost towns in Colorado,we rode on.

Finally, after 8 miles from the final turnoff, we made it.  It took my breath away.  Although the buildings were in an advanced state of decomposition, you could feel history teeming from this quiet mountain summit. We rode up to a group of buildings and I braved the snow-covered floor to get a closer look inside. 

I have always had a deep-seeded interest in history.   Buildings, junk, photographs,  it didn't matter.  As long as it was old, I was hooked.  I spent days as a small child climbing through abandoned houses.  I remember scrambling through a window when I was about 7 and finding old toys stuck between the floorboards of a stucco house.  I spent hours seaching through old dump sites on my grandparents property.  As a teenager, (admission of guilt here) I broke into cabins and summer homes around Green Mountain Falls...just because it seemed fun.  I lived next door to the original school building...who wouldn't want to look inside?? Besides the chalkboard, it was pretty boring.  The story of the school teacher quitting because the school house was on top of Foster Avenue is a funny one...but that is a story for another day. and I digress.

Well, after a little digging around on the internet, (thanks Wikepedia for this)  I discovered that Summetville was a pretty big deal in its day. Gold was discovered there in the 1870s.  Soon came 14 saloons and a newspaper.  There were about 600 or so people that lived there.  By 1883, the town was deserted and almost completely destroyed by a forest fire.  The mines were reopened on and off until around 1948 when copper was mined for WWII. 

 Here is the scary part.  Later,  gold was leached out of the mine using sodium cyonide.  A ceast and desist order was put into place in the 1990's.  The poison was leaching into the water supply. Apparently it still is.  We noticed many construction signs along the road. 

Let's hope the kids weren't eating any snow while we walking around.  Yikes!