Tarryall and South Park

We took a drive into the mountains west of Manitou Springs on Saturday and saw some wildlife and beautiful scenery. The first part of the 160-mile loop took us to the old mining town of Tarryall. A coyote avoided my camera, but we did catch a herd (flock?) of Bighorn sheep grazing on the slopes. Tarryall got its start in 1859 as a placer gold mining town, but was pretty much abandoned by 1875. The surrounding mountain range is protected as the 120,000-acre Lost Creek Wilderness Area, and has peaks almost 12,000-feet high. Along the way, we saw people icefishing in the Tarryall Reservoir. At Jefferson, we turned south into South Park, a high intermontane basin that is just a bit smaller than Rhode Island! The wind was screaming across the highway, and between the blowing snow, icy road, and the poor visibility, driving was less than pleasant. Many of the peaks surrounding the basin are more than 14,000' elevation, and there were a lot of snow squalls coming in. At Antero Junction, we turned east back toward Manitou Springs.