Boreas Pass Exploration and Prospecting
Patricia and I took our Wrangler, topo maps, GPS, and prospecting gear up the old Denver & Southpark narrow gauge railroad right-of-way from Como over the continental divide (Boreas Pass) to Breckenridge. Along the way, just below the pass at about 11,000' we took a Jeep trail to the long-abandoned Warrior's Mark mine and the ghost town of Dyersville. The photos on this page chronicle that trip.
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Deyersville Community Building
The community building was built in about 1874. The village was founded at that time by a preacher named Deyer. Village population peaked in about 1890 to about 300. Most worked at the Warrior's Mark gold mine located near by. The entire site was abandoned about 1905. The logs of all the remaining buildings are in good shape, but the roofs fell in, 50 or more years ago. |
Boreas Mountain
Boreas (latin for North Wind) is a mountain peak, topping out at about 13,800 feet and is part of the Continental Divide. |
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Dyersville Church
I'm guessing that's what this building is, based on its size and its layout. When Patricia took this photo, it was 94 degrees in Denver and 63 in Deyersville. |
Gold Panning
Patricia's panning for gold in Trail Creek which runs through Dyersville. Plenty of gold flour, no nuggets. We're going to revisit in the near future and do some sluicing which we think will bear some good gold. The water's very cold (about 38 degrees), having been snow about 1 hour before reaching this point
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Trail Creek
We had to ford Trail Creek to get to Deyersville and the mine. You can see on the far side of the creek, a large hole filled with running water. It looked more treacherous than it turned out to be. Ideal Wrangler country! |
Warrior's Mark Gold Mine
The Warrior's Mark Gold Mine was considered to be one the richest mines above Breckenridge. It is estimated that during its operation it produced about 60 million in gold (that's about 500 million in todays market). Its peak production years were about 1880-1890. It ceased operation in about 1905.
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Baker Tower
This locomotive water tower is one of the last vestiges of the D&SP RR. It was last used in 1937 when the railroad shut down and its rails were torn up. The drive from Como (located in South Park) to Breckenridge over Boreas Pass is on the old right-of-way and is mostly a cinder road base. It's a good seasonable road today, however it was a dangerous train trip taking almost 6 hours to go a distance of 30 miles. |
