Iron City Cemetery

The Aspen are gold; the days sunny; the nights cool. I stayed two nights at a campground at the foot of Mt. Princeton, just up the road from the hot springs. On Saturday I set out on the bike to ride to St. Elmo, an old mining town at the end of Chaulk Cliff canyon, taking the old road along the north side of the Chaulk Creek.
Iron City Cemetery has been lovingly restored by volunteers with the Forest Service. At the entrance, a sign lists the names of persons buried in the cemetery and the dates and cause of death. The brief notes tell of hard times, hard lives. Puts the ache in my legs and back into perspective.


After breaking camp, I rode over Poncha Pass to the Orient Land Trust. Had rented a cabin at the hot springs for a few days. Explored parts of the valley, hiked up Black Canyon (black, I guess, because it is so narrow the sun seldom reaches the path), got some massage work (I mean "work") from Apple (aka David Baker), hung out in Saguache at a place where Apple was having car work done and where the unfolding news of the day concerned the murder of a local woman, her violent demise, and the arrest of a suspect...all while the daily work of fixing vehicles, trading work jobs, finding value in someone's trash, and drinking beer goes on.

So I sit by the window and process my experience through the blog. And then head back to town.