Hunkidori Mine
It was already pretty late in the afternoon and we only had Red Cone under our belt. A few of us weren't ready to quit so we headed off to check out a new trail and see if we could get to Hunkidori Mine. It was a really nice trail and we had a great time.
It was easy enough to find just outside of Montezuma on the Saints John trail. We were excited to see the big crossing of Saints John Creek at the start of the trail. There were even some big rocks in the creek for a surprise. The scenery from the crossing was phenomenal, too.
It was shady in the tall trees as we worked our way to the mine. Very little of the trail was dry. We talked about how old the logs in the trail were and when the trail may have been fixed for the last time. It seemed like the logs were pretty old. The fixes stretched on for quite a distance, too.
The trail kept curving to the left. There was one tight switchback that many of us had to tackle in a few points. Then we were heading uphill.
We parked at the old cabin and wandered around exploring for a bit. It was really dark inside. We didn't stay inside for long, though, choosing to stay outside where it was safe. The old truck was pretty cool, too. It was interesting to see how the cabin was built around an old tree.
We drove just a bit farther to get to the actual mine. Unfortunately, not much is left standing. Still, there were lots of wildflowers and it was very scenic so we hung out for a bit. We even saw a marmot, the first one we'd seen this summer.
Monica and Mark U. drove to the end to check it out but it wasn't really worth the trip. Once they got back we all headed back down. Hoa backed into a tree at the switchback and got a dent for his troubles. Then he dragged a rock under his Range Rover for a bit. The rest of us headed back down without too much chatter.
We regrouped just before crossing the creek again. Then we headed out through Montezuma to the trailhead for Peru Creek where there was room to air up. Marcus found he had a valve stem that wasn't going to cooperate so he switched that tire with his spare tire.
A few of us had a good dinner on the patio at Dos Locos in Keystone and that wrapped the day up perfectly. What a great day!
Report from a Different Day
