By Steven Wade Veatch
The winter snow blankets the town of Uptop.
A wind blows hard, swirling angry flakes of snow.
Light from coal-oil lamps falls through cabin windows—
casting a golden glow down a silent, snowy street.
People of Uptop long for the days of springtime;
the changing realm of white to robust green,
when summer’s blooms spread cheerful colors—
and alpine beauty stirs dreams of travelers coming on rails.
For decades they came over the mountain pass and endured;
some searching streams for gold or looking for silver in mineral veins.
Others started ranches where the grass and water was good.
Each one tamed the West and the grieving mountains.
The depot still stands, built by section hands in 1877,
to meet countless fortune seekers coming over old La Veta Pass.
Today the rails are gone and the travelers are few.
Only a small number remain in the small town of Uptop.
On Sunday at the Chapel by the Wayside, among the trees,
a church bell breaks the weekly silence—renewing the sprits—
of humbled hearts to stay for another peaceful year,
in Uptop, Colorado, the secluded and cherished place .
___________________________________________
DIRECTIONS TO UPTOP GHOST TOWN, COLORADO:
TWO turnoffs to Uptop ghost town are located off Hwy 160:
• 20 minutes east of Ft. Garland, CO: .turn at mile marker 276:
• 15 minutes west of La Veta or 20 min. west of Walsenburg: turn at mile marker 281
Photographs of Uptop, Colorado
 |
| Wayside Chapel, Uptop, Colorado, photo by S. Veatch March, 2012 |
 |
| Uptop Depot for narrow guage rail road built in 1877. Photo by S. Veatch, © March 2012 |
 |
| Town sign. Photo by S. Veatch, © March 2012 |
 |
| Uptop's old hotel and saloon. Photo by S. Veatch, © March 2012 |
 |
| Old cabin at Uptop. Photo by S. Veatch, © March 2012 |
 |
| Structure at Uptop. Photo by S. Veatch, © March 2012. |
0 comments:
Post a Comment