Aug. 21, 2007 - 18:10 MDT

BETTER'N A MULE

Today Heather and I headed to the hills looking for a bit of coolth. We got to the grand altitude of 9118 feet above sea level and it was hot up there, but not quite as hot as in Denver.

We were in pursuit of childhood memories, our outward trip ended in Silver Plume, Colorado, a site of Silver - - 9118 feet above sea level. It is two miles from Georgetown, a 6 percent grade from there. Heather and I had taken the Georgetown Loop Rail ride from Georgetown to Silver Plume with various of our grandchildren many times.

It is quite a historical thing and a marvel of engineering. Narrow guage engines could only pull a 4 percent grade so an engineering magician dreamed up the Loop. It brought the engine in a broad loop up and around in a 4 percent grade, 100 feet above Clear Creek and enabling the engine to pull the rest of the way.

It has been rebuilt in recent years and is a tourist type thing but well worth the experience.

We milled around the streets of Georgetown a bit looking at the old, some restored - some not and headed up to Silver Plume (I-70 splits the town with an off ramp into it)we spent some time there wandering around looking at the historic stuff and stuff that had been modified by recent residents. Some of the old houses were well kept and had the classic lines of the era they were built, but recent owners had used seemingly psychedelic paints in strange combinations on some of them, made for a mixed bag.

Of course I had to stand on a bridge in Silver Plume and take a look at Clear Creek while I was there.

Having had our fill of reminiscences of our childhood days we headed back downhill toward town. One thing we did notice on the way up was smog extended quite a distance uphill, but it was sunny and pleasant evenso.

On the way down we stopped at an old gold mining town, Idaho Springs home of the Argo Mine and Mill which was still in operation when I went to YMCA camp past there in the early thirties. The buildings and mine dump are still there but has guided tourist treks. We had dessert in one of the old buildings which has had multiple owners since we first went there as kids. Then we headed for town. Perhaps if we had started earlier we could have swerved off to Central City and Blackhawk two other old gold mining towns (now gambler's paradises) and swung by the claim that the boys have and dabbled our toes in clear creek there. But the day grew late and we were a bit tired so we settled for coming home and getting comfortable.

It made me realize how hard life and work was those years ago when a narrow guage railroad eliminated the pack trains of mules from the mining picture.

Leads me to think about how the central Platte Valley through Denver was a mass of rails and how rails have played such an important part in civilizing the west. The narrow guage railroad, that could make sharper turns than traditional rails and wind uphill more rapidly than any other method of that time. Certainly a method much BETTER'N A MULE . . . . . . . . . . .

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