Yellow Jackets, Ghost Towns, and Wildflowers.
Our first visit to Colorado Springs left us wanting more time in the area so when I set out to plan this loop I made sure to schedule two weeks at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
We like state parks for several reasons. The views are better, there’s almost always a fire ring so we can have evening campfires, we see more wildlife, and the price per night is usually cheaper. Usually. We actually ended up paying more per night at this Colorado State Park than if we’d stayed at the KOA down the road. I can’t deny the views and the wildlife sightings were way better at the state park. The deer in the pics above were right outside our home-on-wheels. Our cats were loving all of the stalking opportunities.
Speaking of wildlife and stalking…we were stalked and bullied the entire two weeks by the resident yellow jackets. It was so bad that the park rangers let us put up some traps. Did you know that yellow jackets are carnivores? Yup. They’re attracted to meat and sugar…and purple shirts. They also sting just because you looked at them. They’re total jerks. The rangers tried to figure out where the nest was. Several of them worked on it and looked in on us to see how it was going. At one point they offered to move us to a different spot…but our spot had such an amazing view so we just put up with the little flying jerks. It was kind of amazing watching the traps fill up. We ended up with three traps at our site.
We took a day trip and explored up in the surrounding mountains. I had several goals planned for that day. The first one was the ghost town of St. Elmo. While it is considered a ghost town, there are still a few residents. The town was originally settled in 1878 as a gold mining camp and grew to a town with a population of around 2,000 before it died out as the surrounding mines were depleted. It might have started as a gold mining camp, but the area was also rich in copper, silver and ore. In 1881 a railroad through St. Elmo was established and a station was built in town making the town of St. Elmo a main source of supplies for the entire area. The train would bring in supplies and people on it’s way to the mines and then it would bring iron ore back through town on it’s way out. In 1890, at it’s peak, there was a fire that destroyed most of the business section of St. Elmo. Most of the businesses were never rebuilt and the town started its slow decline. By 1922, when the last train went through St. Elmo, it’s said that all of the residents who were left in the dying town rode out on the train never to return. A few families stayed. They tried to bring the town back, but it never recovered. Today you can drive up one of the old mining roads and check out what’s left of the gold mining camp. We enjoyed walking around the buildings and reading the stories. The general store is still open during the summer. We bought some souvenirs and chatted with the owners. The best way to get to know a place is to talk to the residents.
After we left St. Elmo we headed to Cottonwood Pass. We’d heard that the views were spectacular and Guys, they did not disappoint! At a height of 12,127 feet Cottonwood Pass is the second highest mountain pass in the state of Colorado. Surrounded by San Isabel National Forest and Gunnison National Forest the views are of wild and open spaces mostly untouched by human hands. Cottonwood Pass is the highest paved crossing of the Continental Divide in the United States. The day we went it was around 40° and super windy! It was also the first day the pass was reopened after some major road work. We didn’t know that until we got there and talked to some locals who were camping not far from there.
I don’t remember where I first came across the cool Thomas Dambo Trolls, but when I heard there was one in the Breckenridge area…it immediately went on my list of things to see. Meet Isak Heartstone a mountain troll that sits at fifteen feet tall and greets visitors with a shy smile. After doing some digging I found out that the Denmark artist, Thomas Dambo, has made not one but sixteen different trolls in the US! I think I might have a new list of things to see and places to go. If you’re interested in learning more about Thomas Dambo and his many art installments check out his webpage.
Lets talk foodies! Colorado Springs is a huge foodie town and has some of the coolest joints we’ve found. Some of our favorites from this visit are The Omelet Parlor (where I had the best green chili omelet ever), Edelweiss (some amazing German food), and Fat Sully’s for some super tasty amazingly big pizza! Our friends, the Lowe Family, introduced us to Fat Sully’s and Guys…it was awesome! One of the best things about the Colorado Springs area is visiting with the Lowe Family.
Y’all know I love the pretties so I thought I’d end the post telling you about the Ranger Walk we did where we learned about the wildflowers in the area. It was kind of a gross morning with cool weather and on and off drizzle, but we had a great time! We learned a lot and we got to hike around a very cool archery range.
And just like that our two weeks in the Colorado Springs area is over. I didn’t get much video of our time…I’m out of practice…but here is a short little video of some Colorado Springs moments mainly of our spot in Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
See y’all down the road!
#NationalParkTour