Turquoise Lake

One of our favorite places to visit when we come to Colorado is the town of Leadville - a former mining town at 10,000 feet, known as the highest incorporated town in the United States. It's large enough for a City Market, but the only fast food place is a Subway. (No McDonalds!) It has two museums, and numerous historical sites to visit, as well as a small movie theater, an indoor swimming pool, and the best steak restaurant we've ever been to, Quincy's. West of town about 7 miles is Turquoise Lake, which has 6 campgrounds on it. But since all are located in a dense lodgepole forest, you don't feel crowded at all. We stayed at Baby Doe campground, and had a site about 70 yards from the edge of the lake. Don was able to launch his float tube easily. In the picture a top left, the mountain on the left is Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado. The larger mountain on the right, mostly hidden by the closer ridge, is Mount Massive.


We took a trip around the lake and stopped at this viewpoint for a bit. A woman who also stopped there offered to take our picture for us.











This is the view just a few yards from our campsite. I love weather, and enjoyed watching the rainstorms move across Mount Massive.











Also taken from the same place as the previous picture, this shot looks west towards Hagerman Pass and the Frying Pan watershed just behind the closer mountain (and underneath the dark clouds).

If you're into fly fishing, there are so many great places to fish here: Turquoise Lake, the Arkansas River, Emerald Lake, Half Moon Creek, and Crystal Lakes. If you're like me and you like to shop, there are several really nice antique stores, a quilt shop, and some other smaller shops along the main street through town. I picked up several great pieces of antique linen at one store, and then found some newer linen pieces at the quilt shop.