Tin Cup, Colorado

Creede, Colorado
Rio Grande Natl. Forest

I forgot to add this picture to an earlier blog in Montrose.  What I liked about it is that it looks like a beautiful lake as the sun is setting right?  The "lake" is actually the dirt, now mud, parking lot we were staying in for the night at the Montrose County Fairgrounds after a heavy thunderstorm.  Luckily it dried up quickly the next day.

Before we got to Creede we stayed a few nights back in Nathrop. A nice drive took us to the Railroad Bridge Rec. Site across the river.  What a nice area.  There is actually some camping spots right along the river in the prime fishing areas.  Mostly for smaller rigs.

 

 

This is a nice area with fishing access and plenty of hiking trails.

 

 

 

 

This part goes through 3 separate tunnels right through the rock.  Pretty neat.

 

We met up with Dave and Dianne who were camped near by for dinner.  We went to the Eddyline Brewery, one of Steve's favorites in Colorado.  We had so much fun catching up we only got pictures of our appetizer and a cola I had that Eddyline makes themselves.  It was very good.

 

I know, you're thinking brussel sprouts? With some gross looking dip?  They were roasted brussel sprouts and the dip was raspberry chipotle.  We all liked it!  We will see them again where we will both be in Creede.

We had a nice group, RVsingles.org, that was having a get together and wanted to know when we were leaving as they loved the spot we had in the forest.  We were going in a couple days and told them to come on in.  Four of them joined us and the other 8 or so would come after we left.  There was one gentleman traveling alone that had lost his wife a couple of years prior.  He was very interesting and we enjoyed having him over for dessert one evening.  He wanted to reciprocate, so the next night we went to his rig for pie.  We exchanged info and hope to meet up with him while we are in Arizona.

 

Off we went to Creede where we scored another great campsite.  Most of the National Forest campgrounds close early here in Colorado, so we were very happy about this one - Rio Grande.(Pictures on the next blog)  Thanks Dave & Dianne for the great recommendation!

 

We made a day trip to go to the old town of Tincup as we weren't able to make it earlier in the year.  On the way we took a little hike up to small lake near the summit of Cottonwood Pass.

Since we are close to 12,000 feet in elevation, it is no surprise that it's much colder up here.  What wasn't expected was a little storm coming in. Really, should that still surprise me?  Happens several times a week.  You could see the clouds rolling in over the nearby mountain tops. 

The change of colors is starting to happen.  The reds in the ground cover made for a nice Fall feeling.

 

The winds were getting stronger and it was too cold for us to keep going for how we were dressed.  So we turned around about 1/2 way.

 

Hopefully the weather will be nicer on the other side.

 

Across from this old stage stop was an interesting sign about Mistletoe removal.  We decided this would be a great place to hide a geocache.  Since it's up at a very high elevation, it's a seasonal cache. So if you're in the area, look for our cache called No Mo Toe.

 

The weather is much nicer on this side of the mountains.  We were picking up a quick cache when this cowboy rode up and was trailering his horse.

 

Love their Welcome sign above.

 In October 1859, prospector Jim Taylor panned some gold from Willow Creek, and carried it back to camp in a tin cup; he named the valley Tin Cup Gulch.  Early Tin Cup was a violent place.  The population declined when the mines were exhausted and the post office closed in 1918.  It's mainly just summer homes now for avid ATVers and Jeepers.

 

The very popular, Frenchies Café is about the only place to eat.  Fantastic food though!

 

 

Not much here besides Frenchies, this old store and the Town Hall building that looks like a church.

 

 

I do like how people have hung onto the old buildings and try to refurbish them and keep the original outsides. 

Town Hall

The weather keeps threatening to open up again.  But it holds out during the rest of the time we're here.

Someone must've failed their English class!

 

 

Very pretty cemetery surrounded by flooded creeks.

This recent headstone amongst the old ones had lots of heart shaped rocks left on it.

 

This was Labor Day and the town closes down after Monday.

 

We're glad we got a second chance to make it up here!  It's a full day, but beautiful scenery the whole way.  If you're a jeeper, you'd be in Heaven here.