Flowers, Trains, and Mines & Links

Time for the final set of photos from my trip to Georgetown. On my last day, I did some sightseeing by driving Guanella Pass (twice, inadvertently) and taking the train out to do a mine tour. They had just opened an extended portion of the tour, courtesy of two of the guides actually clearing deeper into the mine where it had collapsed or been covered previously. One of the coolest things in there were insanely deep pools of water that went several levels down into the mountain and preserved footprints on the stone from the silver miners. There are still active veins of silver in the mine, but it's officially shut down and can no longer be mined. We even saw liquefied silver running down one of the walls from all the water!

First, here are some wildflowers growing on Guanella Pass (there were a ton, but it's a mountain pass, so you can only pull over at specific pull-offs.) Below the flowers is the view of Georgetown from one of the pull-offs. It's a super small, cute town.

Now for the train!

And the mine. Of note, on the first picture below you'll notice a faint green. That's one of the super deep holes full of water. I believe this one was about 34 feet deep, but I may be mis-remembering (one was that depth). While mining, they ran pumps to move the water out. We had water running along the route we walked down. Water everywhere!

The second picture above was the site of a bit of a mining war. A second mining company tried to undercut their claim, coming in through the hole they blasted in the back. Miners from the proper claim chased them out with rocks then used dynamite to blow up their tunnel, which has since been reopened. On the right, though it's hard to see, is another deep hole full of water (it's not distinctive in color or I would have left it). This one was deeper than the first.

Now for links. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Splickety Magazine is seeking humorous Christmas stories for their December "Wreck the Halls" theme. 300 to 1000 words. Pays $.02/word. Deadline September 22.

Recompose is seeking poetry and flash fiction that blends speculative fiction with literary. Up to 1000 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline September 30.

Nashville Review is seeking fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Up to 8000 words. Pays $100 for prose, $25 for poetry. Deadline September 30.

Books and Boos Press is looking for horror comedies. 4000 to 8000 words. Pays $50. Deadline September 30.

Tribe is an anthology seeking pieces from single/widowed/divorced women of 55+. Prose, poetry, memoir, personal narrative, etc. 1200 to 3000 words. $25 CAN, plus possibility for royalties. Deadline September 30.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is seeking stories with the theme "My Crazy Family." Nonfiction. Up to 1200 words. Pays $200. Deadline September 30.

Edge is seeking speculative fiction stories involving trains for the anthology Fantastic Trains: An Anthology of Phantasmagorical Engines and Rail Riders. There are several "locomotif" elements they want the writer to choose from and include. Up to 5000 words. Pays $50 to $150. Deadline September 30.

Have you ever been on a train? What kind? How about a mine tour? Gold, silver, coal? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.