I'm pretty fond of ghost towns. I'm not sure why, but I love the old crumbling building, and the random signs from the historic society. I grew up going to them in Idaho, and so when I found out that just eleven miles up the canyon past the Music School was a ghost town, I knew I had to check it out!
Ashcroft was a mining town, and there was a silver mine in the area that provided a lot of silver initially, but then proved to be pretty meek. It was one of those built in two weeks and vacated in two weeks sort of places. The Aspen Historical Society has done some work to restore it, and put up information, so it's not a bad little spot to wander around in.
Since the fabulous man isn't in Aspen this weekend, I went by myself, but I had to take lots and lots of pictures to document the occasion. Well, for me 30 pictures is whole lot. :)
Signs when you come into the ghost town
These are all buildings on the property. Some are original structures, like the hotel which is the last picture. The first two pictures are saloons in the town. I was amazed at how small they were; the first one was maybe 12' by 12'. Just the size of an average bedroom these days. The post office (third & fourth pictures) and the hotel both have false fronts. The roof is triangular like the saloon, but the facade is rectangular. They do this to have more space for signage, which I can totally respect. There are a few businesses in downtown Aspen that have this same style.
These were scattered around the town and have some fun information about the period. Sorry that there's a glare on some of them. It was a very bright and sunny day today.
And now for your viewing pleasure, just some of the local flora and fauna.
