Lewis Mill, above Telluride

[gnwatts]

I thought i would share these shots of the Lewis Mill, an amazing structure built in the early 1900's to process gold. The structure is largely intact, from the huge cyanide vats to bed springs. It is located about 6 miles up Bridal Vail falls, at about 12k feet. Pretty cool coming upon a 7 story building in that location.


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[asdf]

very cool
did you go inside

[gnwatts]

Thanks Summit.
I did, it was spectacular, pretty open with exposed structure. The building steps down the hill, anchored into the exposed rock on the inside. It has not suffered vandalism like a lot of colorado mining sites, as vehicular access is not permitted, except for land owners. Consequently the building is like a time warp. It has been stabilized and the roof has been repaired since I took these.

[IntrepidXJ]

Nice, I may have to hike there this summer :)

[MaLuMiss]

I love that area!!

[JP]

Nice shots :2thumbs:

Some info

http://www.watchnewspapers.com/view/full_story/7722672/article-Telluride-and-Ouray--Sister-Cities-Linked-by-a-Majestic-Past?instance=special_coverage_bullets_right_colum n

http://www.beyondthemine.com/2006/pdf/IdaradoBooklet2006.pdf

[gnwatts]

Thanks,
and thanks for the link. I remembered it is being further than 3.5 miles, but I was carrying all of my camera stuff so it felt further.

[JP]

Thanks and thanks for the link.
You're welcome.
I never looked at modern homes and buildings as photogenic. Wow, your site proves that wrong, that slide show was highly impressive :2thumbs: Makes you rethink things.

[moab mark]

Nice Slide Show.:hail2thechief:

[gnwatts]

Thanks for your comments. You made my day JP.

[JP]

You are very welcome, again...great site :2thumbs:

[canyonphile]

Very cool! :2thumbs: I'd love to go hiking up around the area to explore some of these old mining-era buildings...they are everywhere.

Curious - what year did you take these photos?

[gnwatts]

Thanks
I think it was 1997 or so. The building is now in better shape than when I took these. The shots were used by several Colorado preservation groups to get it listed as endangered, and then money was raised to reinforce the roof and dry it in. So I was stoked about that.
The Tomboy mine and Alta lakes are excellent old mining towns to explore, if you want to use Telluride as a base.