Lurking in the mountains of Colorado are several towns that seem to be left behind, apparently after the gold rush swept through the west. My friend Caroline was in town so we decided to explore some of these places, including Nederland, Ward and Gold Hill. Nederland is a small mountain community that is a mountropolis compared to the other 2 places... which are basically dirt roads with a general stores.
Ward is known for it's crazy residents, and the Boulder Police Dept just let them do their thing... so they have a reputation for law breaking drug using outcasts. Notice the old car below with some old hub caps displayed. There were literally rusted out cars on the side of the road... pretty wild place.
Gold Hill is supposedly not as crazy, but it's still out of a different world. I mean, Caroline and I were at the general store and there was a 4 year old kid who walked in naked and just was hanging out. So yeah, this place is a trip. I guess Stephen Stills lived in a cabin near Gold Hill in the 70's after CSN&Y broke up and he went solo. I found this quote from one of his band members: "Gold Hill was a rustic community of artists, university types and pine-huggers with no stores, no paved roads or other related commercial blemishes." I guess his band Manassas recorded their album near Gold Hill in the 70's. I bet those were some heady days. Populations for both places are under 200 people! Yeah, I just wiki'd that shizz.
Anyway, here are the photos that Caroline and I shot on our journey...
Click to enlarge...
Ward is known for it's crazy residents, and the Boulder Police Dept just let them do their thing... so they have a reputation for law breaking drug using outcasts. Notice the old car below with some old hub caps displayed. There were literally rusted out cars on the side of the road... pretty wild place.
Gold Hill is supposedly not as crazy, but it's still out of a different world. I mean, Caroline and I were at the general store and there was a 4 year old kid who walked in naked and just was hanging out. So yeah, this place is a trip. I guess Stephen Stills lived in a cabin near Gold Hill in the 70's after CSN&Y broke up and he went solo. I found this quote from one of his band members: "Gold Hill was a rustic community of artists, university types and pine-huggers with no stores, no paved roads or other related commercial blemishes." I guess his band Manassas recorded their album near Gold Hill in the 70's. I bet those were some heady days. Populations for both places are under 200 people! Yeah, I just wiki'd that shizz.
Anyway, here are the photos that Caroline and I shot on our journey...
Click to enlarge...
mail boxes in gold hill
the aspen-lined dirt road from ward to gold hill
ward fire "hall" - for all those fires in the 200 person town
the heart of ward
self timed photo, notice the mountain lion warning above my shoulder, yep.
coming back to boulder
It was a great trip filled with some awesome food and beer on the patio at the wild mountain in Nederland. The sky was crystal clear and the weather was around 75 degrees...
couldn't have been a better day.
1 comment:
Great photos. Read the Wiki article on Ward. My favorite line: "The town is likewise often viewed with suspicion and puzzlement even by many citizens of liberal-leaning Boulder."
This is understandable (and completely true), considering the day that I drove through last summer there was a man dressed up like a pirate wandering around town.
But hey, I respect their weirdness.
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