MIssion Accomplished

 If at first you don't succeed...

Blue Lake... at last!

We have made four trips over the last five years up the mountain past Natural Bridge to Independence, a mining ghost town from the early 1900's. But a few more miles of road remain before its terminus at the wilderness boundary. A quarter of a mile or so past the end of the road lies Blue Lake. Unfortunately, snow has always kept us from reaching the lake... until this trip!

We were joined Saturday morning at our campsite at Aspen Campground by our buddies Dave and Ronny. Both are avid fly-fishermen, so getting all the way to the end of the road was that much more important. The timing was finally right ~ late enough in the summer that the snowbanks that block the road much of the year had melted, but early enough to avoid fresh-falling snow. We ate our lunch along the shoreline, in between taking pictures. Dave and Ronny were content to fish, so Dan and I explored a little bit around the lake before heading back down to Independence. 

I didn't say they were BIG fish! ;)

On a previous trip, Dan and I had noticed that there were more buildings at Independence than just the ones along the road, and we wanted to try to find them.  We left our ATV's at the location of the town and set off in what we figured was the right direction. We had not gone far at all when we spotted a huge pile of tailings. From that pile, we could see another pile through the trees just to our right. At this location, we found not only another building (or rather, the remainder of another building), but also some other abandoned equipment. 

With our curiosity at least temporarily assuaged, we circled back to where we had left our machines. Our timing was perfect, as Dave and Ronny were just coming back down from their fishing to rejoin us as planned. We returned to the camper and had dinner, feeling quite satisfied with our outing. 

***Bonus Material***

If you enjoyed this post,

you might also like the accounts 

of our previous visits. 

The More the Merrier

"I'm Gonna Die!"

"Oh, What a Beautiful Day!"

I hope this little guy makes it through the winter.
He seems to have gotten off to a late start. 

I love how the wildflowers live
long after the humans have gone. 

We rarely stop for pictures on the main road
when hauling the camper,
but when the full moon popped up
over the ridge,
stopping was imperative!
(Make sure you click on the picture for the best view.)