Weston Pass, CO

[RGINN]

Elev. 11,921ft. 16 miles sw of Fairplay, CO, and in the 1870's a main stage route into Leadville. There's a pay campground in the area but I camped for free about a mile east of the pass in a pretty nice open area above the creek. I slept on the ground by the fire and set up for rain, which turned out to be a good deal. Light rain, temp down in the mid 30's, then heavy rain mixed with sleet and snow. Not a problem, but around midnight Mother Nature took another shot at tryin to kill me. A lightnin storm like I have never seen up here began. Right on top of me. No gap between the flash and the crash. Lightning is way more spectacular above 10,000ft., folks. The second one hit and I dashed barefooted in my longhandles for the truck. The world lit up like daytime and I put on my shades. This went on for about 30 minutes before I felt it safe enough to return to my bedroll. I thought about some pics, but I have a deep and abiding respect for lightning and didn't dare gettin out of the truck. Overall, a great area to camp and one of the better outings I've had this year!

 

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[ronwoodcraft]

All nice as usual!...I love old buildings like these.

 

[curious kat]

Nice pictures RGINN and it's sure pretty up there. Your "lightening" story was good/scary....be careful! We get a lot of it here, a neighbor was hit & went to hospital, but's ok. The closes I've come to it was once during a storm, I was near a window and got "tingles" all over & it hit a tree not to far away. Never had that feeling before, was a bit unnerving. lol we've also had our pump house hit. Wonder if wearing rubber shoes would help?

 

[tamrock]

Whoa!. Sounds like a intense night. I went up Buffalo peaks once a fare above timber line I could see a shower headed my way across the Ark. valley. I started heading back down, but didn't get back to my vehicle before it had me. Found a rock with a bit of overhang and stayed under it. Herd a couple of close cracks just as it past behind me. It was small and moved on by quickly. Thanks for the pic's

 

[vpnavy]

Nice photograph! Thanks for sharing...

 

[RGINN]

I really want to stress the danger of lightning to all folks that spend time outdoors. You can deal with bears, rattlesnakes, avalanches, flash floods, wildfires, etc., but lightning is a wild card. I believe this same storm moved on over the divide to the front range where they recorded about 1,000 strikes in 30 minutes. As for pics, it might be a good idea to invest in a wooden tripod. That guy on the Weather Channel has that sayin 'When thunder roars....that one missed you so don't chance the next one.' Or however it goes.

 

[texasred777]

Great shots, RGINN. Yeah, I like seeing old buildings also. As Kat said, be careful! I believe you're probably more aware of the dangers out there than most; but hope you continue to be careful. I want a lot more of these wonderful pictures!!

Though dangerous, I still miss the thunder, lighting, and rainstorms we had in Texas! I don't, however, miss the severe part like tornadoes! I've been here for over 7 years now (Idaho), and don't remember a single time being in bed listening to rain falling as I drifted into a deep, pleasant sleep.

 

[tamrock]

I had read in an old Treasure Mag that it was common for the loggers to the mining camps who provided the mine prop timers to the mines were know to keep they're savings in mostly $2.50 $ $5.00 gold coins. I also read that most of the Leadville timber of the old days had been provided by loggers up in Weston Pass. I could never pinpoint any thing that could be a long gone logger camp in the area and most likely they would be well overgrown by now. Just a story I connected with long ago and hoped my 1980's Garret would score on a loggers cabin with his savings left behind.