We may have been a little late for seeing the wildflowers, but I don't think it mattered much to any of the five of us taking the tour. We were greatly impressed with what we saw.

Coors Falls was a perfect stop for lunch on our five-hour tour that started at 10 a.m.

The town of Crystal, sometimes called Crystal City, had its heyday in the 1880s when copper, silver, lead and zinc were being mined from the nearby mountains. It's long been deserted save one soul who spends her summers here. When the jeep tour or other four-wheelers come through, she'll walk across the street and open the dimly-lit store that sells next to nothing. If anyone happens to venture in, she'll be sitting there in the corner and will ask them to sign the visitor's roster. When I spoke with her she told me how she liked it up here by herself and hated it when she had to go into town for supplies.

The well-known Lost Horse Mill (some call it the Dead Horse Mill) still stands and is photographed by all as they pass through. Long may it stand.

Less than a dozen buildings now stand in the old, deserted town that once held a population of 400 people along with hotels, saloons and even two newspapers.

In front of the black jeep you can barely see a gray-colored car, SUV style. It so happened the day before that a lady, relying on her GPS, attempted the road to Crystal from Marble. She got stuck, probably on large rocks, spent the night in her car and was happened upon by a couple in the red four-wheeler. They notified a rescue car (the black jeep) who took the shaken lady back into Marble. This was around 3 in the afternoon of her second day. Her car, which was in pretty bad shape, had to be towed in.

Lizard Lake was our last stop on this wonderful and scenic tour of the Lead King Basin.