McMillan Peak
We had already seen five trails since breakfast, but we wanted to get one more before ending our day. McMillan Peak was relatively short and very close by when we came off of Galena Queen Mine, so we decided to check it out.
Route finding was easy, and we followed the track we'd hand drawn before the trip. Then the main trail kept going while our drawn trail headed up the hill. It was weird, but definitely not the first time that had happened. We just took the other trail to see where it led.
The track cut into the mountain ahead of us could have easily been long dead because we couldn't really see it, but then when we got up to it we saw it was still in use. It was a very exposed shelf road, but it swung around to end up below the Kansas City Mine, our original destination. It looked like the old trail we were planning on following was the one that was long dead. It all worked out in the end, and we enjoyed the scenery at the exposed turnaround spot.
On the way back down we stopped at a little waterfall made by the creek that would go down Georgia Gulch and then finally into Cement Creek. The rocks were bright white, making it a pretty little stream. It was a nice place to stretch our legs.
We also took pictures of the bright yellow and green water near the trailhead that was coming out of the ground. The colors were caused by minerals as well as algae, and it was a little gross and pretty at the same time. And then we were done with our last trail of the day, following Gladstone Road out to Silverton. We had a good dinner there, and then headed up to Ouray for a campfire and stories.
