1st Annual Ghost Town Trip - August 2006 (Tim, Erin, & Jon) - Mosquito Pass, CO - From Fairplay (Alma) to Leadville

"Just after nearby Montgomery was founded, gold was discovered high in the mountains above and gave rise to the town of Mosquito. The name came from a town meeting where a mosquito was crushed between pages of a book during the meeting. It was the only name they could agree on. The camp's birth was in June of 1861. A pass was cut over the mountain into Leadville. This pass, named Mosquito Pass, is the highest drivable pass in Colorado at over 13,000 feet. It was nicknamed the "highway of the frozen death". The London and the New London mines are right with Mosquito and were one of the richest set of mines in the state. "  

More info http://colomar.com/ColoradoPlaces/mosquito_pass.html and http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/thelondonmines.html

The trip was damn fun...  The pictures start at the base of the Alma side (the remnants of the the bottom Tram station) and end on the trail overlooking Leadville.  The structures were last used in the late 1800s.  It was snowing fairly hard on the top of the pass.  The trip was cut short by rainstorms.  We had intended to stay in the mountains an additional night and make another 4x4 run.  Now we have a good excuse to go back...  After going over the pass, the ventilation system on the jeep and my ipod stopped working.  They both started working normally shortly after returning to lower altitude.  Weird, eh?  Click on any of the pictures below to see a 800x600 version.  Email me for the high res images.