The OH MY GOD ROAD in IDAHO SPRINGS, COLORADO on "Travel Tuesday"

For an outing full of Colorado history and scenery, there's a steep little dirt road that snakes its way up and over one of the richest mountains in the world.  Room enough for (BARELY) two cars to pass (SLOWLY) THISCLOSE!  This is the OH MY GOD ROAD.  Drive it for yourself, through some video magic at the bottom of this post.

This old nine-mile road connects the two former Boom Towns of Idaho Springs and Central City, Colorado. Officially named the Virginia Canyon Road, with the locals referring to it as the Oh My God Road, it climbs at about a 7% grade, to an elevation of 9,400 feet.  Paved at the top of the switchbacks, you need to be a little cautious of the narrower stretches of the loose gravel road (no guardrails on this one), slowing for any oncoming cars and/or bicyclists.

Dad and I spied this mine from the road, hidden in the trees, and decided to do a little photo exploring.  We climbed up a treacherous shale hill (one step forward and three slides back), before hitting the top and realizing there was a really nice trail leading up, further back behind us.  This had been a pretty big operation at one time, as evidenced by the tailings left behind.

Be mindful of private property signage; otherwise, you're free to explore.  The old mines have shafts that drop down hundreds of feet, with tunnels that branch out at several levels.  This creates a very real danger of cave-ins.  When in doubt about what is underfoot, PLEASE check out the old mines and buildings from well-worn trails or roads - use that zoom lens and play it safe.

Up, over, and down the other side, through the ghost town of Nevadaville (there are a few modern day houses sprinkled in this little valley); this road takes you through the heart of another old mining operation from days gone by.

Spy something like this old mine opening?  DEFINITELY do not enter - take that picture from afar.  This one has been sealed off with a grate, but there are plenty more in these mountains where these precautions have not been taken.  Gases inside are another hazard, in addition to deep drop offs.  Play it safe!

The Lace House at the top of Central City - and views from the neighboring hills (I have no idea about the golden calf in the two right side photos, but I liked it) - the amount of gold tailings dotting the hills is incredible in "this neck of the woods".

"And now for something completely different"...I found this time-lapse video someone made of driving the OMG Road from Idaho Springs, down through Central City and over the mountains to Nederland and beyond (another gorgeous drive). No need to watch the entire thing, unless you're so inclined. A few minutes and you've got the idea (the OMG Road/Central City portion will take you halfway through the video, plus, I get sick motion sick watching these things)...the gravel road starts at about 38 seconds in.

How do I GET to the Oh My God Road, you might ask?  Located about an hour west of Denver, take I-70 to exit 241 in Idaho Springs.  You'll follow Colorado Blvd. into town.  At the fork in the road, stay to the right, and take the second right you come to, onto Virginia Canyon Road.  That's where the pavement ends and the fun begins!

CENTRAL CITY/BLACK HAWK, CO on "TRAVEL TUESDAY"

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A NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN...

During my recent trip home to CO, I spent a few hours walking a couple of old cemeteries.  At the first, I was on a mission to find the final resting spot of one of CO's most historic couples Horace and Baby Doe Tabor, at Mount Olivet Cemetery, outside Golden, CO (home of the Rocky Mountain Spring Water, Coors).  Wandering about for an hour, afforded some beautifully peaceful sights...including a private Italian marble mausoleum, erected in 1923, and housing the Reed family - and it truly was the size of my own house.  All photos here can be enlarged by clicking on the mosaic (and then clicking again, if you get a little magnifying glass with a + sign).

And yes, being ever fascinated by ghost stories and horror films (I DO watch the ridiculous ghost hunter shows on occasion, and must admit that I take great, silly delight in it all...I do believe, I do believe.  Ahhhh, don't judge - I could have far worse vices), I have to admit the last two photos here, of the massive bronze doors on the place, caused my heart to flutter a bit.  There was no reason for the pinkish/blue streak of light in the middle photo, that moved across to the left side, in the second one (unseen except on the camera when I got back)...that side of the mausoleum was shaded when I stopped to snap those shots.  To you naysayers...let me have my fun here.

A few days later, during my trip with the girls to Central City and Black Hawk, my niece just happened to be at the same hotel, celebrating her birthday with her own set of girlfriends.  A call from them at 11:30 pm, found us grabbing our jackets and heading 2 miles up a long, bumpy, dirt road to a cemetery in the woods, dating back to the mid 1800's.  Ah...youth!  We would have probably just sat around that evening and done adult behavioural things, were it not for the girls.

Bald Mountain Cemetery - the name alone should have probably stopped us, as creepy as the segment from the old Disney movie, "Fantasia", set to the Wagner classic was!  And anything that starts out with one of you looking eerily like the movie trailer from The Blair Witch Project should be a tip off, as well!

 I MUST PREFACE THIS BY SAYING THAT WE WERE VERY RESPECTFUL OF EVERYTHING WE SAW THAT NIGHT!  That being said...orbs...I got ORBS!  Please just indulge my quirky little obsessions - I got orbs in my Day of the Dead photos from a few years back, for those that read along and remember THOSE photos.  All of the photos taken that night were under the same conditions...and I made sure I walked away from the "masses" and any chance of tiny little flashlights, when I was taking photos.  Away from the dirt path, and onto grassed in areas.  Held my camera up into the dark, and just pulled the trigger and waited to see what developed.

We could see nothing unusual, until we got back later.  Some pictures showed nothing, while others had anomalies galore...all under the same conditions, and some snapped within seconds of each other.  Yes, I used my flash when I walked into the dark and pointed the camera - I am not a professional ghost photographer, by any means (not that anyone would confuse me with one, either)...however, same conditions on all photos should have produced same results - in my goofy mind, at least.

For you skeptics who are thinking pollen - riddle me this...why would some of the photos have orbs, and others not - if it was truly pollen, wouldn't it be in all of the photos?  I think so!  Look carefully - I have included both non-orb and orb photos (the upper right photo actually has a beautiful LARGE orb in it but translated poorly here), so you can see what I'm talking about (in fact, the last two cemetery pictures here are of the same spot...see the orb in the center of the last one that was not there a second before).  Look...look with your special eyes!

The last three photos were taken in Nevadaville, an old ghost town that is being brought back to life...just a hop, skip and a jump from the cemetery.  A few old buildings still stand, along with the walls from the old jail...no orbs, and the same conditions for the photos.  And yes, we were extremely creeped out by the end of the evening...one of us was more than a little carsick!

Which brings me to this.  Our mode of transportation up the mountain that evening was Jessi's SUV...filling up the front and back seats of the vehicle, left us with one spot empty...in the back of the back...across the top of the large speakers.  I volunteered (car sick, as I get)...by the time we arrived at our destination, I was as green as my coat, and stepped out of the totally dark car (believe me, there were no running or brake lights on to light my way) into pitch blackness, landing in a small ditch we had parked atop.

One amongst us snapped this photo while I was still on the ground, and laughing about it (at that point).  The hardhat that came out with me found it's way onto my head for the cemetery crawl.  That aside, my niece and her friends had told us the main reason for going up there was they had been before, and had encountered a small boy ghost on two separate occasions.  We asked her if he had ever shown up in their photos, and they claimed that he had, indeed...AS A RED FLASH.

You be the judge...try not to burst my bubble orbs!

BLACK HAWK, CENTRAL CITY, AND THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS

A second bout of bronchitis has had me neglecting my tour guide duties this past week, but I think I am finally, sufficiently, on the mend...

Over the past few years I have been fortunate to have forged a couple of very dear Internet friendships (I know, GASP!...and no, not Internet dating).  I started out selling on eBay and was asked to join a, now defunct, selling group called TLOFA (The Ladies of Folk Art).  One of the other sellers and I formed a computer friendship, due to the CO link, that blossomed from emails to phone calls; to birthdays and holidays; and through a serious illness her little one went through two years ago.  There was an ease in the friendship, right from the start, that usually takes years and hard work to achieve and keep.  Joleen drove to Denver last year, when I went home for vacation, and we met up for the first time, face to face...I was right.  It was the easiest friendship I had ever fallen into...like we were old childhood friends.  She will be hard pressed to get rid of me from here on out.

When she found out I was coming out again this summer, not only did she let me know she would make the trek in from the eastern CO plains of Sterling, but another TLOFA friend said there was nothing we could do to stop her and her sister from driving in from Missouri to join us, and boy were we glad they did!  I think we both felt we had that kind of instant connection with Chris and Angie, again...and now we are four.  To quote a recent movie, "Wait a second, could it be? And now I know for sure, I just added two more guys gals to my wolf pack!"

This is what happens when you get your hair cut two days before leaving on a trip, and tell your hairdresser, "I trust you completely".  Being "hair challenged", and meeting up with three friends with fabulous hair and cuts - priceless!  Standing in front of the icy cold Clear Creek on the way to Black Hawk, CO, left to right:  Joleen Locke; Angie Kempker; Chris Schenewerk; me

Our morning meetup including getting Angie and Chris checked out of a questionable choice of motels the night before, and a two hour trip through the Brass Armadillo antique mall, where treasures were found by all...Angie was a little "put out" with the fact that Chris had schmoozed her way across Missouri and Kansas, garnering "free stuff from little old men at antique stores", as she went.  I did have to laugh at lunch, when I asked the sisters why exactly Missouri license plates sport the phrase "The Show-Me State" (I lived in MO for 3-1/2 yrs.)?  Without hesitation, I was met with a resounding chorus of "Because, we'll SHOW you our boobies!"  I don't think that was how Chris was getting her free stuff, and can say for certain that she got nothing for free while Joleen and I were with her.

My folks offered up too good of a deal to turn down at the beautiful new Ameristar casino, getting us two nights in the little mining town of Black Hawk, about 45 minutes west of Denver.  CO legalized gambling in the old mining towns a few years back, and this little town has witnessed a rebirth, of sorts.  The Central City/Black Hawk National Historic District is an historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush - Central City came to be known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth." 

On May 6, 1859, during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, John H. Gregory found a gold-bearing vein (the Gregory Lode) in Gregory Gulch between Black Hawk and Central City (these two towns are separated by mere city blocks!). By 1860 as many as 10,000 prospectors had flocked to the town, but most soon left, many returning back east.  The 1900 census showed 3,114 people - those figures are probably somewhere between 200-500 now.

The old buildings have been refurbished, and stand alongside the new casinos - gold mine tailings are plentiful still, on the hillsides surrounding town.  We thought we had found Easy Street, for sure, when we walked into a tiny bar, with swinging saloon doors, that had dollar bills, seemingly, floating on the ceiling?!  The casino houses Colorado's oldest bar, The Gold Coin.  The bartenders are evidently skilled at adding a tack to a dollar bill and tossing it, along with a quarter, to the high ceiling – the quarter comes back down, to be returned to the visitor, and the bill stays on the ceiling.

Our adventures in town continued later that evening, with a midnight trip through one of the local "haunts"...stay tuned - there WILL be orbs!