If you're going to drive all the way up to Steamboat Springs, you might as well stop by Walden (an hour away) to see the old family lands and take care of some family business. Since SBT GRVL was a week later than last year, Stacey and the kids had to stay at home for the first the week of school, but I was lucky to be part of this trip with my parents.
On Thursday morning we drove up together and met with a Realtor in Walden to talk about the 160,000 acres that are still owned by about 14 different family members. The Sudduth Coal Mine is located on this property, but neither the mine nor the land seemed to be of much value after we were able to find them.
The Realtor led us out to the general location but had to turn around for another appointment. We were able to find the mine after a few trips up and down some paths that loosely resembled roads with the help of Google Maps on our phones. Sudduth Coal Mine, Sudduth Draw, and Sudduth Ditch 1 (the location of the old ranch) are still searchable on Google.
After finding the mine we drove a few miles over to the ranch property. We weren't able to get all of the way there since it's now private property. But we were able to take a few pictures of the larger landscape and Mom was able to zoom in with her camera lens and peek at what was left of the buildings on the property.
I'm really glad that I was able to go and see this with Mom and Dad. The setting is beautiful, like something out of a movie. We had some good discussions on the history of the ranch and family, but just being there was really great. It made me think about what life on the ranch 100 plus years ago was like, and obviously it was meaningful to see a piece of my own family history in person, with my own two eyes.
