You won't find this city on any map of Colorado because it no long exists. All that is left are some mines and rotting wood. But from the spot where the city used to be are two roads to the top. Argentine Pass at about 13,285 and McClellan Mountain at about 13,132 feet elevation.
We left at 8:30 but some delays caused us to reach Georgetown, CO at about 10 AM. We drove on newly paved road for about 3 miles and then turned off onto gravel. The first mile was pretty steep with some tight switchbacks before straightening out for an easy climb. One section of the road went thru an Aspen forest. The trees are starting to change to their yellow, gold fall colors and with the sun shining thru them, the air was a glorious golden color. And then, just like that, we were out of Aspen and into pine forest and then above the tree line.
We divided the group in half and one went up Argentine and the other up to McClellan then after lunch we switched sides. Argentine had some technically challenging rocks to climb but at the top the view was pretty awesome. We could see mountains all around us and valleys on both sides of the pass.
The drive up McClellan was quite different. We had several tight switchbacks and traversed the side of a rocky mountain side. But, again, the view from the top was awesome. And so was the wind! It must have been blowing 40 - 50 mph!
The trip back down seemed to take forever and by the time we got to Georgetown it was pretty much closed up for the night. Oh, well, we were tired and ready to relax.
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