Miner's Cabin / Mohawk Lakes - outside Breckenridge, CO

We heard a tale of this refurbished miner's cabin up outside of Breck / Blue River from our neighbors and wanted to check it out for ourselves. Evidently this old, abandoned mining shack had been fixed up at some point and was now open to whomever stumbled across it, wood stove and all. We headed up after work on Friday, and it was plenty dark before we actually arrived to the trailhead.

But it was only a couple of miles on a well established trail to the cabin, but in case we didn't find it we brought tent and supplies to camp on our own. And plenty of headlamps. After an ultra-quiet, moonlit walk in the woods, we found the cabin and to our luck it was unoccupied. We poked around with limited light, sparked a fire in the stove and settled into the cozy sleeping loft.

It wasn't 'til the morning light that we even grasped where we were at:

1883 miner's cabin we stayed in

Not a bad scene to wake up to, that's for sure! But we also quickly discovered that this cabin is along a very very popular hiking trail in Summit County. Cooking up some eggs for breakfast outside rendered us the de-facto tour guides for dozens of hikers, kids, dogs, etc. It wasn't anticipated, although it wasn't surprising either given the novelty and location. They all asked the same innocent and curious questions, but it got old fast. Most of these folks would have passed on by had a couple of morons (us) not been fixing breakfast and coffee here.

We were staying a second night, so we cleaned up and headed uphill as soon as possible to avert the prying crowds. Joining the day-trip masses on the trail, we came to some great features:

Upper Mohawk Lake

This alpine lake lies a couple miles above the cabin in a historically rich mining area. Lots of pits and mines and rail tracks and trailings litter the hillside.

Further up around treeline another alpine lake hangs within the glaciated bowl. Looking west:

After hiking back to the cabin, the daytime crowds meandered off downhill in the afternoon and it was back to just us. So quiet and pleasant, and just a tad spooky... knowing that tough miners had erected this place for shelter and rest and their toil of riches ~130 years ago.

We cooked dinner, as they had, although we are lazy westerners who bought fun food & wine at the supermarket and hiked it in a couple miles from the car. They did not even conceive of such luxuries, I'm sure.

A huge thank you to whomever the ambitious folks were that restored this cabin to an 'inhabitable' state in 1989. I imagine you guys are long gone from the regular scene, and I figure this trail was a lonesome hike back in your day, a quiet place mostly of your own... 21 years has brought a lot of development and visitors to Summit County. Ourselves included. Thank you for sharing, all the same:

photo of the original visitor's log, mounted and weathered on the cabin wall, 1989

An uneventful hike back to the car and a stop for coffee and made-to-order donuts in Breckenridge before heading north over Berthoud Pass and through Winter Park, Frasier & Granby. We drove through Rocky Mt. Natl Park, eastward over Trail Ridge Road for some spectacular motorized views.

I had to work in the Boulder office on Monday, so we made it back to Camp Dick near Peaceful Valley (along the Peak to Peak Highway) just as darkness arrived on Sunday night. An easy night of car camping before heading down the mountain in the early morning, and I arrived back to work just in time for a day in the office!