Out of Our Rut: Chatfield SP Part 2

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This is looking to be one of our stops where we cannot tell you anything about the actual state park we are staying at. The campground is nice enough with 50 amp full hookups and sites are spaced apart enough so you don’t feel like you’re on top of your neighbors. There is a big reservoir and the line of cars entering always seems to be backed up as we drive by so it is obviously popular. I see many bicyclists, mainly on road bikes, riding through the park so the park isn’t just used by boaters. It’s just that we have so many other things we want to do in the area and so few days that we really only see the park when we drive out for the day or come back at night. I suppose if we were staying for a longer duration, we might be inclined to explore Chatfield SP. Here are a couple photos I got from sunset and sunrise at our site since it is a beautiful spot.

Sunset at Chatfield SP

Sunrise Reflection

With just two days left, we have lots of stops we’d like to fit in. We had wanted to tour the Coors Brewery a few weeks ago but discovered they are booked out many weeks in advance. We decided to reserve tour tickets almost a month in advance to coincide with our stop at Chatfield. Today was our day but not until 2 PM. We decide to head up to Golden and see a few other things before our brewery tour. The first stop was the Colorado Railroad Museum. It didn’t look to be a huge place and we figured if we arrived at 9 AM when they opened, we would have plenty of time to explore and still make our afternoon tour at Coors. We opted for admission with the train ride which came to $12 per person with the senior discount.

Colorado Railroad Museum

We had a little over an hour before our scheduled train ride, so we start to explore the outside displays. There are over 100 rail cars on the 15 acre museum grounds. This includes locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, cabooses and some unique specialty cars. We are not train buffs by a long shot, but it was still fascinating to walk around and check them all out. Quite a few of them are open so it’s possible to enter and walk around or at least look into the interiors. The postal service car didn’t just carry the mail between towns but was actually used to sort the mail while the train was underway.

Old Steam Locomotive

Retired Diesel Locomotive

Postal Rail Car

Postal Workers Wear Face Masks!

The locomotive from Coors was donated to the museum after some sort of accident at the brewery. The huge snowblower car would be fascinating to see in action up in the Rockies in January. The most unique of all the cars is sort of a Frankenstein looking thing called the “Galloping Goose”. It’s the melding of a 1930’s automobile with a small boxcar. They were much less expensive to build and maintain than steam locomotives of that time. They could handle light freight and passengers. Apparently they are maintained and are occasionally run on the museum track. There is a rather large outdoor model railroad area but the volunteers that run it were just getting in so not much was happening there.

Former Coors Brewery Locomotive

Old Caboose

Dining Car Interior

Big Snowblower

"Galloping Goose"

Outdoor Model Train

There was still more to see but it was time for the train ride so we head over to the loading area. Since the train does not leave the grounds of the museum, it’s a rather short ride. The loop around the grounds is about 0.4 mile in length. With that short of track, the train consisted of just 5 cars: the diesel locomotive, 3 passenger cars and the caboose. It was only an additional $4 to the entrance fee so it doesn’t break the bank. One volunteer narrates the trip and explains the history of many of the cars on display. The train loops the grounds three times in order for the full script to be read. We’ve done much better and more scenic train rides but it was still fun and informative.

Locomotive for Train Ride

Enclosed Passenger Car

Open Passenger Car

After our train ride, we continued our tour of the grounds. There are a couple of old cog locomotives from Pikes Peak. A reconstructed water tower is on the north side of the museum grounds. It shows how a steam locomotive would have been filled with water. The roundhouse has 5 bays for servicing the locomotives. The back entrance allows visitors to see up close to the work - but being a Sunday no work was being done. The platform that is used to rotate the locomotive onto the proper track was pretty neat. It is actually turned by human power. A volunteer was there to let visitors see how easy it is. When a locomotive is on the turntable, if it is perfectly balanced, even a hundred ton load can be turned.

Manitou & Pikes Peak Steam Locomotive

Another Pikes Peak Cog Locomotive

"No Agua" Water Tower

Locomotive in a Service Bay

Roundabout Being Positioned

There were a couple of other outdoor displays on the day we visited. There was one area with a handful of tractors and another spot with six antique cars. We head inside the museum for some of the other displays. It’s a big place with lots of information about the railroad business and it’s history in the area. Another large room has a very elaborate model train setup with trains running. We’ve been here about 2.5 hours and feel we have seen it all. It was an enjoyable stop.

Old Farmall Tractor

Nice 1931 Ford Model A

Model Train Inside Museum

We still had more than an hour before our tour so we head to downtown Golden. After eating a quick lunch, we wander around a very busy downtown on a nice Sunday afternoon. Lots of people were out playing on Clear Creek that runs through town and right through the Coors Brewery. Trails are on both sides of the creek so we do a short loop. The Golden History Park had some neat old buildings to check out but we were running short on time.

Welcome to Golden

Clear Creek Running Towards Coors

Surfing the Creek

Greetings From Golden

Golden History Park

There is a large parking lot near the Coors Brewery designated for tour parking and there is even a person at the lot entrance to confirm you’re here for a tour. We get checked in and wait in line. Fortunately there is a covered area because it started to rain while we waited for the next bus to arrive. Our tour group was 15 to 20 people. It’s a short drive into the grounds of the brewery and we are dropped off to be carded, get wrist bands and meet our tour leader.

Coors Tour Bus

Large Coors Can Water Tower

Inside Reception Hall

As we started to follow our guide, she commented this was just her third tour here at Coors. I initially assumed she was joking or saying it was just her third tour for the day. We arrived at our first stop, where there are samples of the ingredients used to make Coors - barley, cereal grains and hops. Our guide needs to refer to notes she has on her phone to get through the presentation and it was clear she was new to this job. She did fine and will likely get to the point where her script is second nature. We head into the “brewhouse” for our next stop. We can see the copper tops of large kettles and are each handed a beer in a lightweight aluminum cup. I guess Coors has learned the lesson about giving visitors on tours glass containers!

Main Ingredients Beyond Water

Entering Brewhouse

Large Kettles

Another Stop, Another Beer

A few more stops along the way where there is another cup of beer and more discussion about the history of Coors and their beer making process. The whole tour just went down hallways where we could look into the various rooms but didn’t see much going on. Even the packaging area was rather quite. The one line that should have been running was stopped while some workers scrambled to figure out some problem with the equipment.

Looking in Testing Lab

Stalled Packaging Plant

We eventually end up in a large reception area with a bar and a few beer choices - but just a few. I didn’t realize how many brands are now under the Coors Family - Killian’s, Miller and Leinenkugel. Of course none of those were available to sample for our last beer of the tour. Having done the Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour this past April in St Louis and New Belgium in May just up in the road in Fort Collins, I’ll admit this tour was a bit disappointing. And it didn’t have anything to do with our novice tour guide, but simply the lack of things to see along the tour route. There is a large gift shop on the way out that we wander through but don’t find anything we really need so we head out to catch the next bus back to the visitor parking.

Final Stop

Some of the Coors Brands

The following day, we head out to drive the Lariat Loop. A 40 mile national scenic byway that heads up into the mountains to the west of Denver. There are quite a few highlights to be seen along the way and we realized if we tried to do each stop, it would be difficult to complete it all in one day. We had already completed a few things along the route such as Red Rocks Amphitheater, downtown Golden and the railroad museum so we could obviously skip those. We get a fairly early start and shoot for Mother Cabrini Shrine as our first stop. Driving along I-70 just to the west of Denver, travelers likely see a huge (22 foot tall) statue of Jesus on a hill north of the expressway.

Jesus on the Hill

The drive up to the shrine rises almost 300 feet from the expressway so the views promise to be rather impressive. We park and decide to walk up to the statue. It’s just under a quarter mile walk but it it rises 190 feet while climbing the 373 steps to the top. It’s a good workout and we take our time to enjoy the views along the way. There are also the 14 Stations of the Cross along the way. The intricate tile mosaics are mounted on crosses and are rather stunning. A 15th mosaic was included for the resurrection and it is in a decidedly different style than the others.

Garden Area at Base of Stairs

One of the Stations of the Cross on Way Up Stairs

Picture of Butterfly While We Rest

Poppies in Bloom

Different Style Mosaic

We make it to the top only slightly out of breath and are greeted with incredible views. We take our time to soak it all in before heading back down the steps.

View from Hilltop

Another View

Jesus Statue

We head over to the Grotto chapel as well as the spring - supposedly a miraculous spring. We refill our water bottle just in case!

Grotto Chapel

Inside Chapel

Fresh Spring Water

We skip the museum, picnic area and the garden to see the Shrine Chapel. It’s very pretty with loads of stained glass windows. The whole property is a wonderful place and worth the stop regardless of your religious beliefs.

Approaching Shrine Chapel

Altar in Shrine Chapel

More Stained Glass

The next destination is a drive up Lookout Mountain. This is the mountain where the Colorado School of Mines “M” is located along. Being a very winding road with tons of switchbacks, I will say the M is less impressive from close up but I could only take a quick look for fear of driving off the road. From Golden, it’s about a 6 mile drive up and gains about 1700 feet of elevation. I was amazed by how many bicyclists were making the climb - it must be grueling on a bike. There are also several parking areas and trailheads along the way. We drive past the entrance to Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum and Gravesite and continue to the parking lot for the Lookout Mountain Nature Center. The plan is to take the one mile trail from the nature center to Buffalo Bill Gravesite. This will allow us to get some exercise (at 7500 feet elevation I might add) and a few geocaches as well. There are a few openings in the trees that show off some great views and a chance to see some of the curvy road that got us up here.

View Along Trail on Lookout Mountain

Windy Road Below

We get to the large parking area for all things Buffalo Bill. The view of Golden is pretty good. The gift shop has all sorts of “junk” and it seems to sell pretty well. If you ever need a coon skin hat, you’ll find it there. I also learned that William Cody (Buffalo Bill) was also a member of the Elks.

View of Golden Colorado

Lots of Buffalo Themed Items

Buffalo Bill's Grave

He was and Elk Too

We hike the 1 mile back to the car for lunch then walk across the parking lot to the Lookout Mountain Nature Center. It’s a beautiful building but was closed that day. We went around back and found a very nice covered porch with comfortable chairs so we take a load off and relax a bit. The railing for the deck is wrought iron but made to resemble branches. It was quite artistic and fit in with the surroundings.

Lookout Mountain Nature Center

Beautiful Railing on Deck of Nature Center

On the other side of the parking lot is Boettcher Mansion. It’s not clear what it is used for and we cannot go inside but do walk around the grounds a bit. Much of its styling matches our taste although it is clear no expense was spared in creating the many of the details. We really loved the light fixtures.

Boettcher Mansion

Nice Light Fixture

We continue on the Lariat Loop. Where it intersects with I-70 is a bison herd overlook. We stop in the parking area and scan the surrounding fields but don’t spot any. Our next stop would be close to Evergreen at the Hiwan Heritage Park. It too was closed but we could walk the grounds and check out the beautiful buildings following the self-guided maps provided as we enter. The place started back in the 1890’s and was continued to grow over the next couple of decades. The craftsmanship is quite remarkable. There are also a couple of covered wagons not far from a geocache. This was a neat stop. Looking down the road towards Evergreen are some homes way up in the hills overlooking town. We stop in Evergreen to look around a bit and find some ice cream. There is likely lots to do and probably some great hikes in the area, but we have spent the bulk of the day exploring and just want to get back home for our travel day tomorrow. I guess being at higher elevation today will help for our next stop where our campground will be nearly 8700 feet!