The Alpine Tunnel

Day 2, Part 2...
After the falls we drove way up into the mountains, thru some pretty sketchy roads to the Alpine Tunnel. From1880 - 1910 there was a railroad from Southern Colorado to Denver for mining and lumber resources. Much of the track and mining towns are still left up high in the mountains. After 8 miles of rough, rocky road (thank goodness for 4 wheel drive in the RAV!) we found the trail head. At 11,000 ft. we hiked 3 miles up to 12,000 ft. to see the remains of the tunnel. Apparently this was one of the most dangerous stretches for the railroad due to the altitude and the curves of the track. It We saw snow, beavers, mountain streams, the closed up tunnel, and much much more. We ended the hike by hiking back another 3 miles to the car and then having a picnic (turkey burgers mmmm) on our single camping burners :)