Victor


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The sleepy little town of Victor was once a bustling metropolis full of miners and businesspeople.  They even had an electrified streetcar system that ran around the Cripple Creek Mining District.  Today there are just a couple bars and a German bakery in town.

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On the main drag in town.

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Demolishing an old building.  This town didn’t get gambling like Cripple Creek did.

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Old advertisements painted on the buildings.

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A sketchy kids ride that Heather tried to climb into.

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End of the pavement.


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The building where Delfina and Matt had their engagement photos taken.  The painted-on advertisement is semi-famous.


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One of the original train stations.


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Now boarded up and forgotten.


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Driving Up Phantom Canyon Road in a Thunderstorm


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We started up Phantom Canyon Road just as some dark storm clouds rolled in.


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Through a train tunnel as the hail starts pouring down.

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Big, fat raindrops hitting the windshield.

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I was having a lot of fun driving up this road through the rain, hail, and lightning.

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Another tunnel.

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This was a deep one.

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Getting darker and wetter.

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Over an old bridge with a Jeep going extremely slow in front of us.


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The Jeep let us by and we continued our progression up this really interesting canyon.

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The storm cleared as we came out on top of Phantom Canyon near the town of Victor.


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HUGE Private house or lodge of some sort.

Bighorn Sheep Canyon Rafting on the Arkansas River

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To wrap up the adventure activities on our birthday weekend, Heather and I went whitewater rafting with Echo Canyon River Expeditions on Bighorn Sheep Canyon.  We originally had been scheduled to do the Royal Gorge but due to high water, the gorge was closed for commercial rafting.

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Getting into our gear.

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At the put-in point unloading the rafts.

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There was a big troop of boy scouts from Georgia on our trip.

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Excited for some white water!




Here are some of the best clips of the rapids.


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All loaded up and ready to go back to base.


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The tour leader debriefing after a good run.