New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-09-24
SIGHTS IN COLORADO.
AT IDAHO SPRINGS.


THE CROOKEDEsT RAILWAY IN THE WoRLD-Oo"O"
RIDES THROUGH THE MoUNTAIEs-CI.EAR CREEK
CANoN-UP GRAY's PEAK-TllE VIEW FOURTEEN
THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE SEA.
IFRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRlBuNEl
DENVER, Col, Aug. 20.-ldaho Springs is
village nestled in mountain gorge, 1900 Icct ABOVE
tle-water. and 80 miles west from Denver Railways
are somewhat mixed 10 q stranger IN Colorado ana
going down 10 the Kansas Pacific depot In an OMNIBUS
which driven like Jehu's chariot you wait thefe uhu
the long train East COO miles OF plains has
pulled OUT and then take your seat IN an ancient ana
dilapidated car which IS marked 4" Colorado Central
You are aware that Idaho Springs is due vest
yet the train goes out eastward, and presently
winds around until YOU have had ali sides !
toward the rising Having tackled several times
and seen tue near mountains curiousy change shapes
before YOU you last arrive at the aurlfer0usy-naWeu
Golden City, Here are long fumes and bitches, and
ugly Scared hlsdes and every evidence that you are
among the searehers for yellow dust You see the
SQUARE holes hilsdes ana gray piles OF rOcE ana
dry and warped timbers where thousands of dollars
have been spent and and forgotten in past years
But you are invited transfer yourself 10 another
tran-a curious narrowgauge afflr-and take your
seat I'm nondescrpt ear with along the sides like
an omnibus, and an awning overhead. You may now
have the pleasure OF rejecting that you are upon tue
crookedest railway in the world, and II you
90 out and look at the engine, you
will see that is to s fellows what the donkey IS 10
horses meant for force rather than speed and adapted
to mountain climbing. It is curious little affair." win
six low wheels aud the tender perched upon the boiler
This it, in short. the "outdt" which Is TO carry you
through that fughtfu crack in the worlds hard crust
that scene OF overhangng rocks dizzy nights and rush
ing waters, known as Clear Creek Canon.
CLEAR CREEK CANON
stood looking down upon the green torrent, raging
and roaring and crused with white fOam and up at the
spurs and pinnacles above, and asked a journalistic
friend who stood beside me, What can you write
about nql9" Very doubtfuly the gentleman looked at
me for moment and shouted back above tho roar Of
waters DO you think am such an ass as to try to de-
scribe 1t 2"
This is the trouble with every man who has the
faculty Of weighing the inadequacy Of mere words
Such scenes as Clear Creek Canon and many others in
Colorado, must be absolutely seen and te, and then
remembered among the list Of this worlds wonderful
things known only by description. The mind naturally
connects such scenes with something pastoral wheh
there really nothing pastoral about Them There Is no
peace The din rings in the dapason utterly end
less Men think there must come calm but there does
not Great rocks steep ncnes, and all that is ragged
and rough and huge, interrupt the snOwborn torrent
until its waters white with madness. There Is no
calm pool gentle incline. Every obstacle which the
cliffs could down lies in the bed OF Clear Creek,
sturdy barrier against that which nothing made by man
could curb moment The slightest OF the green water
curs above the hollow rock would move Lowell factory
Wheel For 20 tortuous miles it is SO. The puny railway
track sheyed upon the rock above the stream winds III
and out perousy and the black smoke trails backward
down the canon, and the whole invention seems an i'm
pudent invasion of the realm OF foam sound ana forty
hight The eye aches with looking upward sometimes
along scanned and tawnY cliffs which from side to
side the blue sky stretches like awning, sometimes
through serted ranks OF pines and green vistas where
one longs be, and where nobody ever was And when
yon come out last, at Floyd Hill, where the course
opens wider and the torrent less swift you wonder as
you ride away upon the coach at the silence when has
THE CoACHRIDE TO IDAHO SPRINGS.
Three miles bring you 10 Idaho Springs, and this
cOachrde thther is something worth mention suppose
you your upon the topmost towering hight OF
this roickng, reeling, and altogether dssipated We
hicle now unhapply, with all its dashing grandeur
almost out Of fashion. After innumerable boxes and
trunks and maibags have been mysteriously slowed
away redfaced. sturdy, healthy fellow with natty
corduroy shootingjacket and buttonegged pantaoons
takes his beside you and adrOity sezes the brake
with his right foot He takes up and Strengthens the
six long lines as though he held them danhly at his
fingers ends, ana the machine begins to rock
and sway and move of. You should see the easy
handling of the long whip. the keen snap explodes in
the near leaders flank He is pleasant fellow this
stage driver. He smokes cigar and answers questions
and has hand free most of the time while SIX gray
go dashing around the hill and up the narrow
road, clnging to the mountain size Win oIpy re"
hundreds of feet above and below But you never hear
echoing among these hills the oldtime stage horn.
When numbering 0xteam Obstructs the narrow road.
or a stoppng-place is approached, the driver gives
warning in a sharp voice as coyotish as possible, ana
this hdeous imitation of the gray thief of the wilder
ness Is universal wherever stages run.
The little village of Idaho Springs seems to be the
golden mean OF the tourist and heath-seeker The a
tude is sufficient insure GOODNESS, without the frosty
lie fort fght Onlv few
attractions mostly sought at hand save those
great sights in the vicinity of Colorado Springs Near
here are Middle Park. Grays Peak Green Lake, Bear
Creek Chicago Lakes, &c. One can indulge IN any
amount Of rampng with this for kind OF home There
are hotels and living accommodations, and available
camplngplaces 1t is par excellence the bathing place
of the mountains swim in warm soda water is not to
be had everywhere. Wuen Eastern people begin TO I'M
derstand what is in the way Of cOolness romantic
scenery, health and novelty In these regions, Soda Hill
will be occupied by cottages and these baths take ele
CANT proportions Even now, elegant society and ex
ceent accommodations lie in close proximity TO bear
hunting and trout fishing.
CLIMBING GRAY's PEAK.
On August @ 1873 while all the world lay sweltering
below was gently showed upon The incident was
among the sensations Of climbing Grays Peak The
whole OF letter. longer than this, might be devoted toa
description OF what and how one feels 1900
feet above the level with the world below him like
map The summit OF Grays Peak is only 25 miles from
Idaho Springs and accessible on horseback to the
top While az high the most. 1t Is more accessible
than any other high altitude of the Rocky Mountains
There is hotel comfortable enough, though Ogbuitand
rustic at timber line. four miles only from the top Here
the tourist will find fire at all times, plentiful
fare and stawart son OF the landady
acts as general chaperOn and guide
TO the summit After staying all night ae this mountain
hotel, you start at about a. M to the summit. The
boar frost lies thick upon the ground. and the little
pools are frozen over thiekly Yet the sunshine
bright and CHEEKY Spring morning. Presently