Buena Vista, Colorado..A Beautiful View

[kcexpress69]

1. Central City, Colorado..The richest square mile on earth.
2. Black Hawk, Colorado, down the road..literally
3. Leadville, Colorado..The Two Mile High City




It was time to stay the night. After many weeks of hot days and warm sticky nights, I took the liberty of sleeping 12,126 feet up at Cottonwood Pass which is at the Continental Divide.
I've visited there before, but never stayed overnight. Sleeping cold never felt so good!! The next morning, I took a short hike up a nearby mountain and got some great shots before I drove into town.




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Finally!!!! I figured out how to use the panoramic setting on my new camara!!


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Got an animal shot or two!!


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These little buggers are elusive to say the least!!


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Well, I dropped about 5,000 feet and into the valley where our namesake town is located. Buena Vista was established back in the late 1870s and served as a railtown for many of the mining towns back in the day.
The name Buena Vista is Spanish for "A Beautiful View" which holds much truth. From Buena Vista, lies The Sawatch Mountains which hold many of the visible mountains over 14,000 feet. The town has approximately 2600 residents,
although it's probably double that if you include the immediate outskirts.


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A couple of shots of the courthouse


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An old house of some kind right on Main Street Kinda neat.


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Some great little eating establishments


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A great little place for some morning joe and a bagel


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These tracks are obviously not used anymore, although another set runs through the mountains east of town somewhere..


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Nice to see most of the buildings from the incorporation era are still standing!!


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Looking out towards the east side of downtown


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Now to a part of town that blew me away!! Just southeast of downtown is a development called South Main Street!! This planned community looks to have been around for just a few years and is currently still building.
I really wish more cities, towns, and especially suburbs would take this concept and make it a reality. Especially if you're trying to develop a town center of some kind.


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Looking back towards the old part of town


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Trying to get a few skateboarders in action!!


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Flowing just east of town is the Arkansas River. While it's generally mild in this part, It's a great river to raft on!! I've been on it three times and I love it!!


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A couple of amatuers!!


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Climping a hill on the east side of town, I tried my best to get a panoramic shot of Buena Vista, The South Main Development, the Arkansas River, and the mountains in the background!!


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And that wraps up Buena Vista!! It was a busy morning. I have to hit the road because there are more towns to shoot!!

[TwasBrillig]

Looks nice!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Sweet

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures! Buena Vista looks like a really nice town!

[CastleScott]

Great shots!! That old rail line is currently in mothballs by the Union Pacific, its an old Denver Rio Grande/Southern Pacific main that the UP is holding until heavy traffic on the Moffat mainline further north forces them to re-use the old Tennessee Pass main which may happen fairly soon as the BNSF also has trackage rights on the Moffat.

Did you hike up a 14er btw???

[kcexpress69]

Originally Posted by CastleScott

Great shots!! That old rail line is currently in mothballs by the Union Pacific, its an old Denver Rio Grande/Southern Pacific main that the UP is holding until heavy traffic on the Moffat mainline further north forces them to re-use the old Tennessee Pass main which may happen fairly soon as the BNSF also has trackage rights on the Moffat.

Did you hike up a 14er btw???

I didn't have time to do it this time around..I have been up Mt Yale twice, Shavano Peak, and LaPlata!! Great hikes to say the least!!

[CastleScott]

^ Cool! As a Colorado native I've only been up Mount Evans once by car and Pikes Peak by cog railway, however my sister and family plan to hike up some hopefully next summer...

Oh btw heres a cool website on Colorado 14ers: www.colorado14ers.com

[Tom In Chicago]

Nice photos. . . my folks have many friends that have retired in BV. . . they call it Kenosha West. . . the new main street development is just goofy. . . but the surrounding scenery is beautiful. . .

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