The Greenbacked Cutthroat Trout is being restored to local lakes like this one.

We hiked up to Timberline Lake, just "up" from Turquoise Lake. (I always like to complain about elevation gain).

These guys get along just fine...we counted 7 on the feeder at one time.

This pretty Rufous hummingbird has elected himself king of the feeder. . . .he spent a lot of energy chasing all the other hummers away from his little kingdom.

Across the lake, this is the view from our campsite...you can see Leadville from here.

If you look at about the center of the picture, the white spot is our trailer, located in the May Queen campground on Turquoise Lake.

Local residents embrace the history of the town by wearing costumes of the boom days.

One of the several old buildings in Leadville...the city sits at 10,000 plus feet, and hasn't changed much in the last 100 years.

The end of a donkey/human marathon for Boom Days.

Sunday, August 3

Today we pulled up stakes and headed for Leadville. We climbed over Loveland Pass at 12,000 feet, and drove throught the famous Eisenhower Tunnel. Compared to 17 years ago, with a minimally powered Ford Bronco, we sailed up the mountain this time with our "animal" diesel truck. The downhill was a 7% grade, which in trucking terms, is pretty darn steep. We got in line with the other big trucks, switched on the exhaust brake, and sailed back down the hill.
We landed in Leadville exactly 17 years to the day later; we arrived for Boom Days in Leadville. Lots of activities; beer drinking, donkey marathon, and more beer drinking. Our campsite, the May Queen, was located on the north end of nearby Turquoise Lake, right on the lake. At night, you could look across the lake and see the lights of Leadville 6 miles away.