Still More Breck Pics

It's true. I have more. I still haven't found the picture of the red and yellow paintbrush (although in truth, I haven't actually looked - when I say "I still haven't found," I mean it has not e-mailed itself to me.)

This big pile of rocks and gravel and stuff is what is called dredge spoil. There are miles of piles (I rhyme!) like this along the rivers around Breck - and maybe all over Colorado? I don't know, but probably so. 100 years ago or so, people wanting gold and other deposits built dredges on the shallow rivers out west. The dredges would churn up the bottom of a river, sifting out the good stuff, and leaving behind lots of other stuff - some just unsightly, like these rocks, and some toxic. The rocks were dumped in these enormous piles, which are still just sitting there, looking all barren and unfortunate. There is a reproduction dredge sitting in the Blue River right there in downtown Breckenridge.


One night, just before dinner, this amazing alpenglow happened, and we had a great view from the balcony!

It looked like the mountain was on fire!