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| Hiking | 4.80 Miles |
1,170 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.80 Miles | 1 Hour 57 Mns | | 2.46 mph |
| 1,170 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This hike marked the beginning of the last leg of my grand Colorado trip. I ended up doing this hike solo, as everyone else headed back east of Dillon. I went west with the intentions of checking out Hanging Lake, but since it was closed, a man in Frisco directed me to this historic little area. Two things he mentioned hooked me onto this hike. The first being that it went past Boston City, an old mining town (love ghost towns!), and the second being that it would come right to the base of Fletcher Mountain, which I had attempted some days before. When a mountain beats me, I can't get enough of it and must go back again and again from any angle possible so that I can examine it further. Or maybe just bathe in its awe.
The trail turned out to be completely unmarked as far as signage goes. Based on the directions I was given, I just pulled over when I saw a parking lot that looked busy enough to be the trail I was looking for. After hiking up a Jeep road for several minutes, I finally came upon some people and confirmed that I was on the correct trail. They actually didn't know either, but were headed for the same place I was, so at least we would all be lost together if we were wrong. Soon enough though, we started seeing various shadows of mining life long ago. A couple shacks, some abandoned equipment, a few collapsed glory holes. Eventually the trail climbed up to a vast meadow that reaches to the bases of Fletcher and Atlantic Peaks, with Pacific and Crystal Peaks in the distance to the north. This meadow contains a few old buildings that are interesting to explore. The nails used for the all the buildings are wire nails, so the buildings along the route are somewhat recent (~within the last 100 years give or take). The road continues up past Boston and hooks around, coming to a green gate prohibiting entry. Past the gate are more abandoned mine buildings. There isn't much to see up here besides that. I headed back down, making some good conversation with various other hikers and picking up their suggestions for future hikes.
I had a really great time on this hike, maybe even more so just because I was alone and able to do everything on my own time. Explored some ruins, met some interesting people, and even got to take in a side of Fletcher that I hadn't seen before. Great way to start out the long trip back to AZ. |
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