Crystal Mill is an old powerhouse that is located on the side of a mountain near Marble, Colorado. It is accessed from the town of Marble by a narrow and extremely rough and rocky mining trail. Before I set out on my trip in my Nissan Frontier 4x4 pickup, I decided to put on several skid plates to help protect the vital components of my truck from rocks. I'm glad I did. Having said that, if I had known just how long, rough, and rocky this road would be, I doubt that I would have attempted it. I spoke to a couple of other photographers there at the site who were equally as stressed out by this drive as I was. I considered turning back several times along the route, except that the road was generally too narrow to have any hope of turning around successfully. Somehow, all four tires managed to survive the trip to the mill and back, but I don't really see how.
My advice to anyone who is not an avid rock crawling enthusiast, and in the most ruggedly equipped vehicle, would be to spend your cash on a guided tour tour to the mill, rather than on replacing tires...the tour would probably be less expensive. If you must go, perhaps a weekday might require less backing up for other vehicles along this one-lane road than the Sunday afternoon that I made this journey.
Tech info: Canon 5DII, 35 mm lens, polarizing filter
I backpacked to Crystal twice when I was in high school...glad the old mill is still standing. It is so picturesque.
ReplyDelete