Colorado Halloween

What better place to spend Halloween than in a town with plenty of ghosts in Colorado. I flew up to Denver to visit Ian and we drove up into the old mining town of Leadville. Shown in this picture is what remains of this "Cloud City" (elevation 10, 152) that once boasted a population of 60,000 people in the 1880's (due to mostly silver mining). Today only about 3000 residents remain.

Ian is standing on old rail boards that lead out of a mine shaft at one of the old abandoned mines. Behind him is Mosquito Pass, one of the roads used to haul the ore back down to Denver and Pueblo. The pass was dirt and closed for the winter so we thought it better to not try and go over it.

One of the great stories of wealth, made and lost, is that of the Tabor family. H.A.W. Tabor and the saloon girl, Baby Doe, made millions from this silver mine that Ian and I are standing near. When the U.S. government went on the gold standard in 1893, silver lost much of its value and the Matchless Mine of the Tabors became worthless.

This is a photo of Harrison Avenue (the main street) in Leadville. Halloween is huge here and people of all ages dress in costumes and cruise the streets.

Ian and I went to this haunted house which is called Stapleton Manor, later that night. It doesn't look nearly as scary in the daytime but let me tell you, it scared me a lot. The manor is behind this little blue house - scary masked people with chainsaws, people jumping out at you from bushes, blackened hallways, lasers, etc. It all made for a very memorable Halloween.