854. Westcliffe, Custer County (CO40)

This, folks, is a western courthouse. It’s all brick and rock, something sturdy for a frontier location. That said, I could see three different sections to it. A white rock wing (not pictured) was obviously the oldest part of the courthouse. The middle section was built in 1929. The far brick wing was built much more recently to blend in (unsuccessfully) with the central building. I actually considered going in and asking a couple questions about it since it was a weekday but, it being just after dawn, nobody was there. My curiosity went unfulfilled. Besides, I had something more important than that to do.

A game controller shaped tin was what I had braved hairpin mountain curves, the foggy Raton Pass, and two herds of elk (yes, I encountered them both on the way to Westcliffe) for. I had driven 800 miles for it and my appetite was whetted for more!

Consulting Atlas Obscura before I came, I learned that Westcliffe was the home of Smokey Jack Observatory, a privately built but publicly used telescope with its own retractable roof and appropriate computer resources for tracking, making it quite an instrument. Of course it was locked up because what’s there to observe during the day? Actually, solar observation is a thing, but that’s not what gets the imagination flowing. I took a few moments to admire their setup and the backdrop for it all and then claimed an Adventure Lab there because why not? But I could only give it limited time. Though the day was new, there was a lot to get done and a lot that had already been done (I drove all night to get there). My list was ready and I had places to go. And besides, I hadn’t had breakfast yet. Westcliffe was a small town and I had beaten most of it awake. Intend on food, I started heading to…