CONTEMPORARY CREEDE

First and foremost, Creede takes pride in its still-vibrant downtown; a magnificent environment certainly helps.

At the north end of town, one of Creede's most treasured "must-see's" is its Underground Mining Museum, which also serves as the town's Community Center.  After paying a visit there, I wandered next door to the Volunteer Fire Department's original headquarters.

Of course it's a cavernous, jumbo-sized mine shaft turned "garage" blasted out of a hillside that houses its materiel, some old, some newer, and just as spotless as you'd expect.  Yes, the town does have modern equipment housed in a newer facility, but if you like old fire trucks like I do, a visit to the old garage will be a most excellent way to spend some time in Creede -- if it's open.

But wait!  What's' this?  A caller and square dancers hootin', hollerin' and doe-see-doe-ing and having the time of their lives this afternoon!  In the fire house?  









In the blasted-out, used-to-be mine shaft fire house!  Sure made me smile!

At the entry to the Mining Museum there is rodent food dispenser and where children and tame, ravenous rodents hang out.  Yeah sure, they're cute; parents ignore the scary warning signs; the kids love having them eat out of their grubby little hands and crawl all over their smelly little bodies, and no one seems to care.  

I, on the other hand, believe in universal motherhood and scolded while I took pictures of the feeding frenzy -- with a big smile on my face!!!  Does it look like they paid any attention to me?!!

East and West Willow Creek merge and form one stream that eventually splashes right through town.  In the winter, ponds fill up, freeze over and become an arena for skating enthusiasts and hockey players.  For just a few more whiles, the warming hut and fan-stands sit idle...

...while downtown retailers relish the lovely mountain summer and celebrate with baskets spilling over with colorful flowers.

And tucked away between downtown buildings is a sweet restful hideaway -- a tranquil garden featuring contributions  by local artists and lovely plantings against a backdrop of a colorful mural.

Of course you're aware that the current addiction to electronic toys is not confined to youngsters!!

Remember I mentioned those grandfatherly types and their ATV's?  Well the locals ride their wide-open, tricked-out ATV's to hunt, fish, and just spend a day driving the Bachelor Loop with their buddies.  Most of the Jeeps I saw had Texas license plates; but no sissy 4x4's for the homies.  No sir!

Miner's cabins on the creek have been upgraded to fanciful Summer retreats.

One would expect Creede to have plentiful antique emporiums, right?  Well, this was the only one I found … it doubled as a rock shop.   (Those who know me won't believe for a minute I just took photos of its exterior!)

One afternoon, I drove to "upper Creede."  Besides the cemetery, there is a little hillside neighborhood where the air is a mite thinner.  The views of the town below and its surroundings were stunning. 

Sadly, it's time to move on from this special reminder of the way it used to be and the men and women who created a way of life that continues to take my breath away.

CREEDE IN ITS PRIME

I've visited Creede, Colorado several times in the past, but not with a digital camera that I could click constantly in the hope of preserving this glorious little slice of Eden.  I have a new dent in my forehead -- Someone please drag me out of here!!

Creede is a successful fusion of old and new: retirees and river rats, history buffs and rockhounds, little league hockey players and grandfathers on ATV's, fly fishing guides, and soap makers, repurposed miners' cabins and B&B's.  Yes, it has been discovered, but thankfully, by tourists, not developers.  

At the far end of the present town, there are two "canyons" defined by branches of Willow Creek, East and West.  It was below these canyons several townships were established in the late 1800's but were eventually consolidated and re-named Creede after Nicholas Creede who had discovered the Holy Moses Mine.

East Willow Creek Road (above) and East Willow Creek (also my camping spot while I explored Creede)

Once the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reached Creede, it became a silver mining boom town that attracted over 10,000 inhabitants.  Creede's bonanza, along with other Colorado silver mining towns, lasted until the Silver Panic in 1893 when the price of silver plummeted.  However, limited mining of other minerals continued in Creede until 1985.  Some believe a plentiful supply of silver remains in the Creede mining district -- if only the price of silver made extraction worthwhile!

On West Willow Creek, the Humphrey Mill in its heyday...

…and the Humphrey Mill remains and foundation today.  Amazing that this complicated operation was built into such a steep, vertical hillside.  Photos simply don't capture the remarkable engineering that must have been required.

Traveling further up precipitous West Willow Creek Canyon (as far as I dared to go in Second Wind), one encounters...

...remains of the Commodore Mine workings:  ore bins, the Nelson Tunnel, ore tipples, a shaft house.

Climbing the road and turning the rig around, made my skin prickle; I'm getting dizzy just looking at these photos again!

The men rushing towards the scent of silver weren’t just miners.  They were multi-tasking lumbermen, engineers, mechanics, wranglers, architects, builders, cooks and geologists.

Do the math:  these well-engineered structures have experienced and withstood time, weather, vandals and the original 1890's "rush." 

Bedrock -- or what I call "inner earth."  Grab your pick...perhaps more mineral treasures lie here! 

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Some of Creede's notorious characters included Soapy Smith (who was shot to death after moving to Skagway, Alaska during the Klondike boom); Bob Ford (who killed Jessee James); and Ed O'Kelley (who shot and killed Bob Ford).   O'Kelley was tried, convicted and eventually pardoned -- the town believed he had done the community a favor!  It's said that Bob Ford is buried here.

THE PALISADES

Along Colorado Highway 149 between South Fork and Creede, the road follows the Rio Grande River.  The area is known as the "Palisades."   The State of Colorado has established fishing access points all along the river in this corridor, but no camping is allowed. 

I'm on a budget though, and have no compunction about staying overnight at a roadside wide spot.  Especially if it's beautiful, and the river is louder than the traffic.  This sweet spot happens to be in the National Forest, not in a state-managed area, so I took my chances and "dispersed camped" for three nights between the river and the road.

Couldn't have asked for anything better even though my being parked here invited others to join me.  Fortunately, they were day-trippers looking for a place to thrash the water with fishing poles.  Sigh!

I have a friend who gets a kick out of taking "find the bird" photos.  Can you find the animals in this shot?

OK, is this any better?!!

There was a "family" of seven all together that  gathered daily right above my head.

SOME BUILDINGS...

...are more interesting on the outside than their contents!

This store on Pagosa Springs' main street is an attention-getter that grabs people like me to enter and maybe buy stuff!  It has a gallery feel with an eclectic inventory of furniture, wood crafts, local artwork, Japanese tea sets and so on -- nothing that fit my budget, design aesthetic or pocketbook, but the building was fun to look at and photograph!

In the photo below, those little round objects are bottle caps.   They're all over the building; wonder how long it took to collect them!

An interesting repurposed use for a croquet set!

The building's detail was playful and delightful!! Its "theme," if it has one, seems to be fluttering hands.  Note more bottle caps here.

PAGOSA SPRINGS, COLORADO...

…ain't what it usta be!  My former husband came from these parts of Colorado (south-central).  When first visiting in the sixties, Pagosa Springs was a small town with an unmistakable small-town feel: its one main street, its hot springs along the San Juan River, its beautiful rolling hills surrounded by the majestic San Juans.  It was cattle and horse country, and the rock-lined, man-made "baths" in the river's bubbling hot springs were known as the "hippie pools."

Pagosa Springs has since been "discovered."   It's brimming with upscale spas, dude ranches, multiple golf courses, multiple private man-made lakes, multiple gated, mini-ranchette collectives, retail centers, hotels and a huge construction project I could swear is being cleared for a Walmart.  It has grown by leaps and bounds, even further since I last visited ten years ago.

It's not all bad though.  Pagosa Springs has tried hard to maintain its Colorado mountain-town feel by developing public parks, river walks and access to the "hippie pools," and its main street through town is still charming.

Second Wind wouldn't dare miss a stop at the local Ranger Station.  This one had a lovely Summer garden of Cinquefoil, Colorado's state flower, the Columbine, and something the bees couldn't get enough of!

Traveling west of town to my campsite, I came across this strange cement grouping.  Anyone care to venture a guess what it is?  Root cellars?  Bomb shelter?  

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Heading for thinner air now...  considering Second Wind's recent engine problems, ascending Wolf Creek Pass was a white-knuckle drive -- 8 miles up, 8 miles down, 10,000+-feet elevation.

Whew!  Made it; second gear all the way; no problems!