One of my very favorite excursions in Colorado was traveling from the ghost town of St. Elmo to the tiny town of Tincup via Tincup Pass. We actually explored Tincup Pass over a time period of two days because there was so much to see and explore.  I loved this particular trip because we got to spend time walking through a ghost town, off roading, hiking and passing over the continental divide.  It was such a fun time!

First, we started in the ghost town of St. Elmo.  This town lies in the middle of the Sawatch Range and was founded in 1880 by a group of about 2,000 people looking to mine for gold and silver in the surrounding mountains. In the 1920s, train services stopped for this community as the mining industry began to dwindle.  The buildings have been well preserved though and it was fun to catch a glimpse of the past in this old ghost town. On our first day, we walked through the ghost town before our off road trek on Tincup Pass.

After we finished at the ghost town, we headed towards the pass. Just outside of St. Elmo lies the entrance to Tincup Pass. Not too far up the pass, we stopped for a hike since the other vehicles in our group were having some mechanical issues that day. The trail we chose to hike meandered through the beautiful valley along a creek.  It was absolutely gorgeous!

We also spent some time fly fishing and picnicking along the stream.

The next day, we came back to the pass in order to complete the entire off road trek. Once we made it to the highest region of the pass, we came upon the continental divide.

After passing by Mirror Lake, we finally arrived to Tincup (as you can tell, a storm was fast approaching.)

You’re probably wondering where I am in all of these pictures.  Guess I was too busy soaking up the goodness and snapping pictures, oops!  I do have some videos that I took of myself up on the continental divide.  I will have to download them and post them soon.  I still have more to share from our time in Colorado…are you sick of hearing about it yet?!