Galloping Goose Trail-Trout Lake to Ames

The Galloping Goose Trail in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado runs about 21 miles and follows the old rail bed of an historic train that served the area until the early 1950s.

From the scenic Lizard Head Pass the trail runs north to Trout Lake, then to Ophir, past Ames, along the south fork of the San Miguel river and connects to the Telluride Bike Trail and the Valley Floor River Trail that go into Telluride.
I started this segment at Trout Lake, that Shangri-La spot nestled below Vermillion Peak and Yellow Mountain. The trail is as wide as a road until it gets to the Matterhorn campground area, then has different segments of narrow trails and gravel roads as it gets close to the Ophir area, a historic mining town.

There are views of the San Miguel range of mountains all around. The forest here is mostly Aspen and Englemann Spruce.

The Ophir Needles is one of the outstanding views along here. After crossing the highway through a tunnel, there is a mining reclamation project to view that was completed in 2000-01. Old piles of mine tailings from the area mines have been stabilized.
The trail goes above the village of Ames which is famous as the site of the first hydro alternating current power plant in history, an obscure place for an important development.

There was a technology battle between Nikolas Tesla's AC and Thomas Edison's DC and it was here that the winner was determined. Along the trail you can see parts of the large pipe that runs from Trout Lake and Hope Lake to power the plant.

I hiked on this segment for about 1:45 hours before being turned back by rain. My total hike was about 3:30 hours. The distance from Lizard head to the tunnel under Highway 145 is about 11.5 miles.