Quite a crew left this morning for
Cinnamon Pass. There were five Jeeps: Brett
& Alexis, Larry & Cathy, Ronnie & Bonny, Doc & GiGi and us.
Cinnamon Pass is part of the Alpine
Loop which you can get on off Hwy 550, go to Animas Forks (ghost town) and
either take Engineer Pass to Lake City and return via Cinnamon Pass or vice
versa. Today, we were only traveling to
Animas from Silverton and taking Cinnamon to American Basin (a side trail just
pass the pass) where we enjoyed a picnic lunch.
At the top of the pass, the
elevation is 12,640 feet. From Silverton
to Lake City via Cinnamon is 28 miles and takes a little over two hours unless
you stop to take pictures and enjoy nature, which we do frequently.
Since the early 1800s, the pass has
been utilized by the Utes, many miners (Charles Baker, Albert Burrows, the
Hayden Survey Party). In the mid 1870s,
the feds awarded a contract for year-long mail service across this route
(impossible task)! In 1877, Enos
Hotchkiss developed a freight road across the pass, but it declined with the decline
of the ore.
Along this trail today, we encountered
talus covered slopes, snow, waterfalls, alpine tundra, but alas not many wildflowers
yet. There are many mines, old towns, and the beautiful Lake San Cristobal
along this trail, but our journey did not go that far this day
Mostly thru the dirty windshield shots (while rolling):
This waterfall is called "Little Niagara":
Last days for this suspension bridge:
Headed back home:
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