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| we had to wade across some really cold water to get to the trail |
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| not deep thank goodness |
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| the Devil's Punchbowl |
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| the Devil's Punchbowl |
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| we watched these crazy girls cliff jump into the upper pool |
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| Red Columbine |
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| the very very narrow road |
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| not only narrow, but very very rocky |
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| the "town" of Crystal |
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| we found a house where ALL the hummingbirds seemed to hang out |
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| I had no idea that a hummingbird has a beak that opens |
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| down the stream at Crystal Mill |
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| Crystal Mill...the reason for the trip down |
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I never thought my husband was a risk taker until today. I have wanted to see Crystal Mill ever since I saw a photo of it in a gallery. When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a puzzle of Crystal Mill, but I didn't know the name of it then. Crystal Mill is located at the end of a road that leads through the Devil's Punchbowl and through the town of Crystal on the way to Marble. It is an extremely narrow and dangerous road with tales of terrible accidents and loss of life that go many years back. Knowing this, we decided to WALK down the road to Crystal, through the Devil's Punchbowl and then walk back up. I didn't think it was a good idea to bring Hallie, because I thought she would get too tired or sick and not be able to walk back up, but Danny convinced her to come along. After arriving in Crystal and eating a sandwich lunch that we brought with us, we spent some time down at the Mill, watching people wade in the water and jump into the pools. When we decided to walk back up, Hallie thought she was fine to go back up, but as she started out, she began to feel sick and realized she really couldn't make it. The only thing left to do was for Danny to walk back up and drive the car the long way around through Marble to come and get us. We expected it to take about 4 hours. Danny started back up and Hallie and I went back down to the Mill since there was nothing to do in the "town" of Crystal. The town consists of a little gift shop and a few little summer cabins and that's it. Danny had been gone for about 2-2.5 hours and Hallie and I were sitting on a log outside of the little town when from our left, in the direction of the Devil's Punchbowl, came a white vehicle. Hallie said "Mom, is THAT dad?" I responded, "no, Hallie, that's some idiot who just drove down the Devil's Punchbowl". To which Hallie replied, "Mom, that IS dad!" Danny drove up in his Toyota 4runner looking very frightened as he had indeed just driven down the Devil's Punchbowl. It wasn't until later that I heard the whole story and how he came very close to losing his life at one particular spot when his wheels bounced off a rock and then off the road. As there is no cell service in Crystal, we would have never known if he had indeed gone off the road. Needless to say, we are certainly thankful that he made it and he has promised me that it will NEVER happen again. It may be awhile before I take that hike again!
