We get to Monte Cristo and decide to set up camp before exploring. I set up my Hennessy Hammock, and Kent pitches his TarpTent. One of our conversation topics while riding concerned the relative merits of our shelters. It's a tough call, but I'm thinking of switching over to the TarpTent. I keep vacillating though. Ask me tomorrow and I may say otherwise.

We walk down the gravel road/driveway from the campground to Monte Cristo itself.

This is the South Fork of the Sauk River, the source (treated) of our water for drinking and cooking.

Here's Kent passing the old sign for Monte Cristo that is in good shape due to its shelter from the weather under the overhanging boulder.

The best-preserved area of the town-site features cabins, assorted mining junk, spectacular views, and a handy-dandy bike-rack.

Monte Cristo is the trailhead for the Silver Lake trail that can be followed over Poodle Dog Pass and eventually along Silver Creek to Mineral City. At home looking at the atlas it looks like a reasonable hike-and bike trip to link up with the Index-Galena Road and eventually with Hwy 2. It doesn't look nearly as inviting when you read other hiker reports of the "trail" after Silver Lake, or when you hike a few hundred yards up the trail like we did.

The trail to the main town site follows a spiral-welded pipe with 1000 psi joints that must have fed the old hydro-electric powerhouse. Based on the distance the pipe seemed to extend up the steep grade of the valley, it may not have been overkill for the water pressure.

We wander around the town site, reading the signs and gathering a lot of historical food for thought.

Actually, the concentrator was a five-story building where the raw gold ore was ground up and the non-gold-bearing rock was discarded. The ruins feature piles of funny colored dirt and a sign warning you to wash off your shoes to avoid tracking arsenic around where you might somehow ingest it.

We wander back to our campsite and start dinner. I get to watch Kent roast and consume a full can of regular SPAM (1,200 calories worth, not counting the fat that dripped into the fire). I have Knorr Thai noodles with Sardines and I'm not jealous.

It's a long night when you go to bed soon after dark and get up at first light on the equinox. I could swear that I hear footsteps and voices at 2:20 and 3:30 AM (I looked at my watch each time). In the morning Kent says I'm having auditory hallucinations. Of course, it is a ghost town…