Thee Boreas Pass Scenic Shuttle

Summer is in full swing and this is a must when in Breckenridge!

• Jared Black
• Jul 15, 2019
• Travel

Boreas The Ancient God of the North Wind

Hi everybody! I hope you've all had a good weekend! For myself it was a birthday weekend and this blogger is currently getting older; yikes! I was able to treat myself to a Rockies Game with friends, some drinks, and some great food! Colorado really is great for all things, from baseball games to riding a bike down Boreas Pass not more than 1.5 hours away! What's Boreas Pass you might ask? Boreas Pass is a mountain road that either stars/ends depending on how you begin in Breckenridge CO, or the Old town of Como CO. 

Breckenridge was founded as a town in 1859 and became home to early miners in search of the booming Colorado Gold Rush. The problem with Breckenridge was that though it's rivers and mountainous terrain will be filled with massive amounts of gold, the climate of Breckenridge was extremely unforgiving and only the strongest and most determined miners would make it. Gold mining was the main means of mining in the area and one of the most popular means of gold mining was dredging. A dredge, in a way, was a massive land chainsaw that would dig 40-70ft down into the ground. These boats would float in a pond that was backfilled from the dredge rock that it was pulling from ahead of the large boat. Each bucket(tooth) on the boat was worth about 15 cents in gold and these were easily some of the most profitable devices used in the history of Breckenridge's mining history. but you have to wonder? How did all this machinery make its way to Breckenridge, even still, to this day it remains an area quite difficult for drivers to reach.

The answer was Boreas Pass. Boreas pass, now a road, was a set of railroad tracks that made up a portion of the Union pacific railroad and began construction in the year 1882. The railroad was going over a then Breckenridge pass, and was used to get materials and supplies from Denver to Breckenridge. Como was used a train station and would be the beginning of the ever so treacherous route that involved feet and feet of snow at times. Giant train engines would, sometimes three at a time, push a giant snowblower ahead of the trains and should the snow be to deep a crew of men would be onboard to shovel should the train not be able to make it through. When it did, Breckenridge miners would receive their food, supplies for work, and everything else they needed to try and get as much gold as they could. THe miner life was hard though, men would be buried where they fell should they be to malnourished or overworked and that is where they would end up. It was a real cowboy town and some of the original buildings still stand today! The Gold Pan Saloon and The Hearthstone restaurant have been around since day one and one was the local watering hole while the other was well...the brothel. Different time's am I right. 

About this trip though! Sorry, at times I just seem to get caught up in the amazing history of Breckenridge, CO. The Boreas Pass Scenic Shuttle is offered by a local business called Breckenridge Bike Tours

which is located at 520 south main street. You'll meet up at the store for a 9am departure where you will meet your guide. My guide for the trip was actually the owner Rob Catalano! Super cool guy who had great recommendations for everything to do and got us properly equipped for the ride about to take place. As we got fitted and we received our instructions we definitely felt a sense of excitement that was only matched by the beginning to our drive up. You take a pickup truck up Boreas pass and Rob fills you in that the road literally goes right over the train tracks that once were and on the right hand side in the beginning you can even see the train that ran! As you go up further in further in altitude you can tell just how high you're going and the excitement grows even further! Once you arrive at the top the bikes are unloaded and you ride all downhill in a super scenic setting that is just unreal. You then make your way to the pickup location in Como and take the bikes back up to the top where you'll have a nice lunch and then begin your trek back down. You go by a super cool spot called Bakers tank where they use to fill the steam engine and the history just seems to mesh together in such a unique way. This ride overall was probably the best part of our trip and I look forward to doing it again on our next visit back to Breckenridge! Thanks guys! 

 

 

Summer fun