Ashcroft, Colorado and the Castle Creek Valley, July 9
Hello after another great day of sightseeing! Today the rain held off until early evening, making the experience all the more perfect. As we were going to have lunch at the Pine Creek Cookhouse in Castle Creek Valley and close to Ashcroft at 12:30, we skipped breakfast and drove about an hour south to Ashcroft ghost town, surrounded by 13,000 to 14,000 ft. mountains, covered with a rich spruce / fir forest ecosystem. There are pastoral meadows, deciduous aspen forests, and avalanche chutes. The Ute Indians flourished there until the late 1800s, when a buried treasure--silver-- was discovered. But as quickly as it boomed, Ashcroft went bust. The mines, initially producing 14,000 ounces of silver to the ton, turned out to be shallow deposits. By 1885 there were only 100 summer residents and $5.60 in the town's coffers. In the 1930s there was a new interest in the town by sportsmen who built the Highland Bavarian Lodge five miles from Ashcroft and planned a European-style ski resort with aerial tramway. However, WW II put a stop to these efforts. Eventually a man named Stuart Mace moved into the area and became steward of the town, protecting the area from development. Ashcroft's buildings (about 10 of them) from the silver mining era have been restored and braced against the elements, and a half mile trail through meadows extends through the property. I took so many photos, and it will be hard to settle on any favorites, as the scenery was quite matchless.
After our tour of Ashcroft, we proceeded down the road to the Pine Creek Cookhouse for lunch, which seats for lunch and dinner, encompassing an 11:00-5:00 lunch schedule and a 6:00-midnight dinner schedule. The food was pricey, but absolutely first-rate. Ann had a spinach and mushroom omelet, and I had an Ashcroft Turkey BLT with blue corn chips. Both of us shared a dessert of a warm apple, berry, and whipped cream cobbler which was to die for. Sitting outside (even Chase was able to be with us), we looked onto the mountains and meadows of the Castle Creek Valley, a superb site. To walk off the calories, we drove down the road a bit further and followed an ascending hiking route for about a mile to and fro.
From there we returned to Ashcroft, the ghost town, but this time stopped across the street from the ghost town and visited the house of Stuart and Belinda Mace. Mentioned above, Stuart moved his family to Ashcroft in 1948 and brought his dogsled operation there. He acted as town steward. Eventually, Mace and his famous Toklat huskies were featured in the popular 1950s TV series "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" for which the ghost town was fitted with false fronts to create a "Canadian" set. Mace devoted the rest of his life to protecting the area from development and restoring the ecology. His house, made of recycled materials, was bought by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and their role is to be an environmental watchdog for Ashcroft and the upper Castle Creek Valley. We toured the house and also the studio of two Zapotec Indian weavers who are currently artisans-in-residence of the house. Beautiful rugs, bags, table runners, etc. graced the studio, and I bought an orange / blue table runner, while Ann bought a small purse. The woman of the duo, Eliza Ruiz, even gave us woven keychains before we left, for which we thanked her. The taking of photos rounded out the memory.
From the house we traveled back to Snowmass, stopping shortly at the Aspen Music Festival and School, exploring their administration building, practice rooms, and the beautiful creek that runs through the property. The festival is now in its 67th season, sports 300 events and concerts by orchestras, chamber music groups, and soloists. Truly a special place!
Leaving the music school, we traced our way back to Snowmass, finding a store along the way and stocking up on cheese, crackers, cherries, yogurt, San Pellegrinos, and even dark chocolate infused with quinoa, which turned out to be superb! We got back just as it began to rain. Currently, a band is playing closeby, and we are witnessing music from country to rap, and everything else but the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. A fruitful day, and one of the best thus far!
After our tour of Ashcroft, we proceeded down the road to the Pine Creek Cookhouse for lunch, which seats for lunch and dinner, encompassing an 11:00-5:00 lunch schedule and a 6:00-midnight dinner schedule. The food was pricey, but absolutely first-rate. Ann had a spinach and mushroom omelet, and I had an Ashcroft Turkey BLT with blue corn chips. Both of us shared a dessert of a warm apple, berry, and whipped cream cobbler which was to die for. Sitting outside (even Chase was able to be with us), we looked onto the mountains and meadows of the Castle Creek Valley, a superb site. To walk off the calories, we drove down the road a bit further and followed an ascending hiking route for about a mile to and fro.
From there we returned to Ashcroft, the ghost town, but this time stopped across the street from the ghost town and visited the house of Stuart and Belinda Mace. Mentioned above, Stuart moved his family to Ashcroft in 1948 and brought his dogsled operation there. He acted as town steward. Eventually, Mace and his famous Toklat huskies were featured in the popular 1950s TV series "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon" for which the ghost town was fitted with false fronts to create a "Canadian" set. Mace devoted the rest of his life to protecting the area from development and restoring the ecology. His house, made of recycled materials, was bought by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and their role is to be an environmental watchdog for Ashcroft and the upper Castle Creek Valley. We toured the house and also the studio of two Zapotec Indian weavers who are currently artisans-in-residence of the house. Beautiful rugs, bags, table runners, etc. graced the studio, and I bought an orange / blue table runner, while Ann bought a small purse. The woman of the duo, Eliza Ruiz, even gave us woven keychains before we left, for which we thanked her. The taking of photos rounded out the memory.
From the house we traveled back to Snowmass, stopping shortly at the Aspen Music Festival and School, exploring their administration building, practice rooms, and the beautiful creek that runs through the property. The festival is now in its 67th season, sports 300 events and concerts by orchestras, chamber music groups, and soloists. Truly a special place!
Leaving the music school, we traced our way back to Snowmass, finding a store along the way and stocking up on cheese, crackers, cherries, yogurt, San Pellegrinos, and even dark chocolate infused with quinoa, which turned out to be superb! We got back just as it began to rain. Currently, a band is playing closeby, and we are witnessing music from country to rap, and everything else but the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. A fruitful day, and one of the best thus far!
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