A Smokestack from Yesteryear

There’s a little (little by Denver standards) town just down the road from Monarch Pass that I’ve always enjoyed stopping in anytime I get the chance. Founded in 1880, Salida grew up with the mining industry in Colorado and was home to a massive smelter (smelting is a process of applying heat to ore to extract a metal such as silver, iron, or copper) that operated until 1920. Today Salida is a bustling tourist town as it’s close to all sorts of recreational activities such as whitewater rafting, cycling, camping and hiking. Both the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail pass nearby and the Arkansas River runs through downtown. Salida sits in a relative sunbelt featuring warm but not too hot summers and fairly mild winters.

Today’s population is just around 5,800 folks which is about double what it was in the early 1880’s. In its heyday though, thousands of workers from the area worked for the Ohio-Colorado Smelting and Refining Company which operated from 1902 to 1920. Smelting produces a lot of hazardous byproducts including noxious gases so as the smelter grew so did the size of its smokestacks used to carry away those gases with the wind. Three smokestacks were built at the smelter but only the last, and the tallest, remain. Today, if you let your eyes wander when you’re in Salida, you’ll see this impressive monument to the past silently standing sentinel just north of town. When the smelter ceased operating in 1920 - just three years after the last smokestack was built - the town eventually took over the property and sold it for back taxes. Concern grew that the last smokestack was a liability and the town threatened to demolish this relic of a bygone era. However, local citizens rallied  to save their smokestack and today the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

I had a chance this last weekend, before the recent snow, to visit Salida and it’s smokestack. The following short video gives an aerial view of all that’s left of the smelter. As you’ll see I was blessed with a calm, sunny day just perfect for visiting the area. The smokestack was constructed in just 4 or 5 months and used 264 train car loads of brick as it rose 365 feet into the clear, blue Colorado sky. There is a ladder on the southern side by which maintenance was conducted on the smokestack and of course people have continued to try to climb the structure through the years with some doing it in the dead of night. Today you’d be hard pressed to reach the ladder as the lower rungs up to a considerable height have been cut off but standing at the bottom staring straight up, up, and up some more one can only wonder what it must have been like to climb to the very top. Fortunately, my video saves you the effort!

Scary stuff...

There’s enough scary stuff in the world that no one needs to go looking for more. At times it’s hard to remember that life truly is a gift and the world, at the end of the day, has amazing beauty behind almost every corner if only we look.

Had a chance in the last couple of days to visit the Adams County Fairgrounds which was hosting an event called Pumpkin Nights. If you’ve ever wanted a celebration of everything “pumpkin” (and who hasn’t 😏) this would be your event. And as an added bonus, it wasn’t at all scary - no jack-o’-lanterns featuring politicians faces - and if it was a movie it would definitely have a ‘G’ rating. Lots of little ghouls and goblins though, dressed in their Halloween best and it was as much fun watching the little kids oohing and aahing as it was taking in all the creative things you can do with an orange gourd.

The last time I was anywhere near the Adams County Fairground it was still out in the country so it was a little bit of a shock to see it now surrounded by tract after tract of new homes. And the traffic getting there was scary in its own right but once you arrive you can relax and simply stroll down themed corridors made of pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins. From Pirates and undersea worlds to Chinese dragons every turn takes you into a new pumpkiny (if there is such a word) world and at the end there’s a Fire Show featuring some very brave performers Brandishing flaming objects in front of a cheering crowd.

You may be done at this point with anything related to All Hallows Eve but if not you can attend Pumpkin Nights through November 4th. Denver is one of four cities this year to host the event (Los Angeles and Auburn California and Salt Lake City are the others). The event originated just two years ago in 2016 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds to showcase local artists. If you go, forget about the rest of the world for just a bit and just enjoy this celebration of the season! Here’s a taste of what you’ll see...