Picayne Gulch
We stopped at a pullout just before getting to the trailhead because the views of the Animas River were really good. We also saw an old footbridge that we had to see from a closer view. It looked like it was rickety, even when it was together. We couldn't imagine actually using it.
We started up the trail, eventually, and the climb was fun from the start. This was already one of the best trails of the day and we weren't even very far into it. It was in trees, but it was fun.
We were coming out of the trees when we came to the Treasure Mountain Mining Company buildings. We parked and got out to explore, and we were there awhile. There was so much to see. Vandals had messed it up a bit over the years, but you could still see how many of the rooms once looked. Across the way, the mill was very intact. Railroad ties went into the top, but they stuck out into mid-air where they had broken away from the building across the way. That building had sagged down quite a bit.
It was too much to explore in a short amount of time, unfortunately. We stayed awhile, but we had to leave long before we wanted to. We'd have to spend more time here the next time.
We went up and over to Placer Gulch and then headed down. We viewed all of the mining buildings from our Jeeps, but no one got out. There was just too much to see. We were soon on our way.
At the end of the trail, we pulled over and had our first evening meeting of the trip. Walt brought cashews and Don brought cookies. We discussed how we would finish the evening. Would we head over to Hurricane Pass and Corkscrew Gulch, hoping to air up before the sun went down? Or would we head back to Silverton now? Of course, the answer with us always involves doing more trails, so we turned left on California Gulch to head over to Hurricane Pass.
Do we even need to have these evening meetings? Probably not -- let's just do more trails!
Report from a Different Day
