Trials of the trail - a photo on Flickriver

            This tree's trials are over; it fell off the grade just like an errant steam engine. Pictures are everywhere along the trail! I never finished posting the rest of my journey toward Brainerd's Curve on the Switzerland Trail RR grade. I'll throw up the best of the rest of my remaining day trek. I was closing in on the focus of my trek just as weather was closing in on decent aspen shooting. I had to postpone more of the trek for another year. Otherwise, there are no bad treks up here. Here is a shot over the edge downhill of colorful  protected aspen grove surrounded by standing aspen past. Other spots over the edge showed small tailings piles of aborted test digs. 

After seeing the grade from across the gulch, I terekked over here, snapped more shots and now passed with other Switzerland Trail Railroad grade trekkers as they turned around. I kept getting distracted with pictures again. I captured this well beyond the spot where I left off last year. The aspen looked good over on this side of the ridge on Google maps. This is a particulalry colorful curve along the old railroad grade that once again turns north toward Brainerd's Curve and road down to Brainerd's Mill (probably ore instead of wood) on LeftHand Road. Along the grade here, the scenery is typical until the view  opens again to the hills at Brainerd's Curve. Find and follow Switzerland Trail on Google maps. See comments. 

The color was somewhat short of peak but it may not look like it while in the depths. The autumn leaves look like mosaic tile art under the aspen. Indian Peaks Wilderness Area is just west... while Ryan Zinke sold it off to big money interests. 

Again, note that this trail was graded for the railroad over a hundred years ago. It is in pretty good shape here for being a century old. Cars can negotiate the grade here without a great deal of difficulty being largely flat, though encountering motorized vehuicles along the trek is pretty discomforting. That happened to me on this trek. This looks like a well traveled mountain road but with little noticeable grade though it seems to turn up after the curve. In fact, the grade gained only 180 feet over four miles. That's less than one-hundredth percent grade. The D&RG had a 4% grade west of Denver, where they started to gain serious elevation. Well... the grade on most of the route is pretty squirrely and had to be narrow gauge to make the curves. One of the designers admitted at least one curve was too tight for the engines that were on order. They simply changed the curve labels on the surveys ever so slightly. Apparently, the engine design had that much built in. That's why the inner drivers were "blind" and without flanges. 

Portions can be driven in high-centered (not necessarily 4WD, it's level). Get out and walk for an encompassing experience and a lot more shots. Well above Brainerd's Curve, just north, the grade is cut off by the Sawmill road.

Taken on: October 1, 2018

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Trials of the trail

Aspen

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Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railway

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Switzerland Trail

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W. Michel Kiteley

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