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- May 19, 2012
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I have done parts of this hike before, but not all at once. It begins at a forest service gate (off of a forest service road!) allowing hiking across private land, to an old homestead house. From the cabin, I will go down all three forks of Thompson Creek, and then work my way back in a loop back to my car. To make things kind of interesting, I will try to find remnants of a railroad that ran for a brief time in 1887:
The Aspen & Western was incorported on 7-Jun-1886, with the goal of connecting the soon-to-arrive narrow gauge rails of the Denver & Rio Grande's Aspen Branch with nearby coal deposits. The new line would be start at Carbondale, CO, and proceed to the southwest along the Crystal River, eventually turning west along Thompson Creek to a mine at Willow Park. Grading was completed by the end of 1887, and the thirteen miles of track where finished in 1888. The route was entirely narrow gauge with 40 pound rails and operated with D&RGW equipment.
The route was very short-lived, and certainly never a success. The railroad's owners, the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, realized by early 1889 that the veins were too poor for commercial extraction, and that the mines and coke ovens had been a waste. On 29-Nov-1892, the line was sold to the recently-founded Crystal River Railroad company and subsequently scrapped out. Given the light construction of the line, the remnants were largely used on the Crystal River's Coalbasin branch and in the narrow gauge lines around the Redstone smelter.
I had seen previously the stone abutments of a bridge down in lower Thompson Creek (where I would turn around) but had never followed the creek up.
In the photo below, I walked across from right to left across the park to the cabin (1/3 way down from top in the center), then followed the South Fork down:
The cabin is in amazing condition, despite all of the cow shit. Square cut logs, beautifully joined with square nails.
I walked down the creek to where I entered Willow Park along the Middle Fork, shown in the photo below. I came in from the right. The railroad went up this canyon.
I eventually found traces of the railroad grade:
I entered the lower part of the canyon, deep among the linear stone fins, hundreds of feet high, crossing at angles, straight as arrows, with the creek (and the railroad) attempting to make it through.
I then made it to the main fork, where the 125 year old abutments to the final bridge were:
This is where I turn around, and follow the Middle fork back up to my car. All in all, a good 6 mile work out. The main hiking area in Thompson Creek was packed with cars (6!) but I saw no one. A great day.
The Aspen & Western was incorported on 7-Jun-1886, with the goal of connecting the soon-to-arrive narrow gauge rails of the Denver & Rio Grande's Aspen Branch with nearby coal deposits. The new line would be start at Carbondale, CO, and proceed to the southwest along the Crystal River, eventually turning west along Thompson Creek to a mine at Willow Park. Grading was completed by the end of 1887, and the thirteen miles of track where finished in 1888. The route was entirely narrow gauge with 40 pound rails and operated with D&RGW equipment.
The route was very short-lived, and certainly never a success. The railroad's owners, the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, realized by early 1889 that the veins were too poor for commercial extraction, and that the mines and coke ovens had been a waste. On 29-Nov-1892, the line was sold to the recently-founded Crystal River Railroad company and subsequently scrapped out. Given the light construction of the line, the remnants were largely used on the Crystal River's Coalbasin branch and in the narrow gauge lines around the Redstone smelter.
I had seen previously the stone abutments of a bridge down in lower Thompson Creek (where I would turn around) but had never followed the creek up.
In the photo below, I walked across from right to left across the park to the cabin (1/3 way down from top in the center), then followed the South Fork down:
The cabin is in amazing condition, despite all of the cow shit. Square cut logs, beautifully joined with square nails.
I walked down the creek to where I entered Willow Park along the Middle Fork, shown in the photo below. I came in from the right. The railroad went up this canyon.
I eventually found traces of the railroad grade:
I entered the lower part of the canyon, deep among the linear stone fins, hundreds of feet high, crossing at angles, straight as arrows, with the creek (and the railroad) attempting to make it through.
I then made it to the main fork, where the 125 year old abutments to the final bridge were:
This is where I turn around, and follow the Middle fork back up to my car. All in all, a good 6 mile work out. The main hiking area in Thompson Creek was packed with cars (6!) but I saw no one. A great day.
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