Mining-Not an Easy Life

~Friday, October 23, 2020~

Day 131

A beautiful day for a bike ride. Sadly, we cannot take Sadie with us but she had miles of hiking yesterday, so a day of rest will be good for her. The trail...The Mineral Belt Trail which is a loop trail that starts in Leadville and takes you through the historic mining district. Because of where we parked the car, our journey started at mile 2, but we did complete the entire 11-½ mile loop. The start of our trip began at 10,000 feet quickly introducing us to amazing views of the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges and through the Aspen forests which had already lost their Fall glory. Of the 11-½ miles, 6 miles of the trail takes you through the historic mining area. What made the trail even more amazing were the signs along the way that chronicles the mining life and rags to riches story of these spirited pioneers. This trail is listed as one of the top 10 trails in the state of Colorado.

When we completed our trip around 4:30, we thought we’d look for a brew pub in Leadville, but the one pub we had on our list was temporarily closed, so decided to head to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for a delicious dinner of French Onion Soup. One of the things on the list was large ramekins to serve the soup in. You need something that can tolerate the heat as you melt the ooey gooey swiss cheese on top. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any where we were shopping, so on to another dinner plan. How about homemade chili? Now this is a big deal because 1. It takes a long time and 2. There are a lot of ingredients. Our favorite recipe is Jeff’s dad’s San Carlos Chili which always seemed to win him a top 3 prize in our annual chili cookoffs. Thanks to our well supplied spice rack, we didn’t have much to buy in the way of seasonings. I know, I know….you want the recipe right? Well as Jeff’s dad always said, “Got a dollar?” The end result…...the best chili ever!!! (Yes, I had meat tonight).