The Other Side

We have been exploring the West side of the Blue River Valley above Breckenridge, so we decided to take a look at "The Other Side" of the valley to see what's over there. We were surprised to find it is quite different. It's not built up nearly as much as the West side and the homes and buildings are not as high priced. In fact, much of it appears a little "junky", although there are some rather nice homes. But it is certainly more "rural" and more of a "wild" mountain setting.


The view of the town and the ski slopes on the other side of the valley gives you a very different perspective.


We stumbled on to a gorge which had been the center of gold mining activity in the past. A huge dredge worked up or down a small stream digging up rock from the valley floor and washing it for gold. The left over rock was then piled up beside the stream while the dredge worked its way ahead. What a mess they made of the area . . . leaving huge piles of rock behind. I'm surprised the Environmentalists haven't complained more about this scaring of the land. The rock piles are strung out for a couple of miles.


There were five such gold mining dredges in this area of Colorado and only one of them is still visible. We located the one remaining dredge sunken in a pond and we were able to walk around it. It's probably well over 100 feet long and maybe 50 feet wide. In it's day, it must have been an impressive operation to watch.



"The Other Side" of the valley sure is different.