Racing with Burros

Here they come!” Shouts from the crowd of onlookers spread the word down the street. It’s 10:30 in the morning and people are sitting or standing along the edge of the old-fashioned boardwalks waiting for the big event—a burro race.

We’re in Fairplay, Colorado, a sleepy little town way up in the mountains. The population is only 600, but on the last full weekend in July each year it’s bustling with 15,000 visitors who come to watch the annual

World Championship Pack Burro Race and take part in the associated festivities. The main event is the burro race on Sunday, but Saturday provides a llama race with spectator involvement.

The Burro Race is a grueling 30 miles. Man and burro run as a team, starting in front of the Hand Hotel and going to the top of Mosquito Pass and back.

The burro must carry a fully loaded miner’s pack, including a shovel and gold pan, with a weight of at least 33 pounds.

The start of the race is at an elevation just below 10,000 feet and the runners and burros must climb Mosquito Pass, which rises to 13,186 feet.

Burros are contrary beasts. Docile, they’re not. If and when a burro takes a notion to lead instead of follow, its partner needs to be prepared to persuade it differently. If the burro wins the debate and wanders away, the runner must get the animal back to where it left the trail and continue with the race. A great deal of training is put in before the race in hopes of preventing sidetracks.

Weather is another problem. The runners must be prepared for about anything—or everything. It can be sunny and hot when they start out, but they can run into afternoon rains, which frequently turn into sleet and snow at higher altitudes.

Why would someone want to run uphill 15 miles with a troublesome burro? It’s a chance to relive the mining days, following the paths of those miners who sought their fortunes in gold back in the 1860s. The runners of this 30-mile event don’t find a fortune, but the winner earns $1,000, and the first person to reach the top of the pass receives an ounce of gold. Spectators can participate by entering a contest to guess the winning time, with the winner receiving $500.

Llama Race
At the llama race on Saturday, experts and novices take gangly-looking llamas through a maze of terrain on a three-mile race. Spectators can watch from locations on the edge of town. Llamas are fairly accommodating compared to the burros of the Sunday show.
There are usually extra llamas for anyone wanting to join the race. After the race, an obstacle course is set up on Front Street for children of all ages to try to work with these shaggy animals.

Family Entertainment
Fairplay’s town center is packed with residents and tourists during Burro Days. Food vendors line the sides of the downtown streets. Arts and crafts booths decorate the Old Courthouse lawn, and there are entertainment tents and amusement rides.

A noontime parade is full of local fire trucks, horses, mountain men, and such. Highlighting the parade is a “shoot ‘em up” between the sheriff’s office and outlaws.

An interesting site in downtown Fairplay is the monument to Prunes the Burro that stands beside the Hand Hotel. Prunes was a burro that worked the mines for 62 years.
While waiting for the return of the burros and their partners, you can visit South Park City at the north end of town. It’s a restoration of a boomtown from the gold mining era between 1860 and 1900. Thirty-four authentic buildings filled with over 60,000 artifacts tell the story of boomtown life. For museum hours and other information, call (719) 836-2387 or visit www.southparkcity.org.

Mountain Men
During Burro Days, mountain men and women walk around in costume entertaining audiences with tall tales. The Bayou Salado Mountain Man Rendezvous takes place nearby. A mountain man rendezvous is a living history reenactment of the fur trade era. This rendezvous focuses mainly on a trader’s row, offering some of the most interesting shopping you’ll find. All items presented for sale are required to be from the 1840s. You’re apt to find beads, leather, fur, blankets and firewater. Everyone is welcome during the day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but afterward, admission is limited to people in period dress.

Ghost Towns
Remnants of abandoned mines speckle the mountaintops. Ghost towns, antique shops, and old mining camps can be found in or near Fairplay. My favorite of many ghost towns in this area is Buckskin Joe, located northwest of Fairplay on Highway 9, near Alma. The Buckskin Joe mining district reportedly produced $1,600,000 in gold from 1859 to 1866. All that’s left of Buckskin Joe now is the cemetery and its memories. The Silver Heels legend is what draws many to this spot.

Silver Heels was a dance hall girl. The miners loved her dancing and her beauty so much they begged her to stay instead of moving on. So, she stayed. In the winter of 1861, the deadly smallpox disease invaded the mining camp. Through the long days and weeks of this horrible disease, Silver Heels nursed the sick, caring for families and burying the dead. In the aftermath, she vanished. Surviving miners searched the entire mountain area but could never find her.

Some say she contracted smallpox, leaving her face horribly scarred. A few years later, it was said, a heavily veiled woman was seen at the Buckskin Joe cemetery. Many believed it might have been the missing Silver Heels.

When Visiting Fairplay
This is lovely mountain country with beautiful views of wide-open spaces threaded with the glistening streams of the Platte and Tarryall and their tributaries. Around you, the massive peaks of the Rocky Mountains stand tall, and colorful alpine wildflowers grace the woodlands.
For information on Burro Days and the events surrounding this weekend, contact the South Park Chamber of Commerce www.parkchamberofcommerce.org or Gary Nichols at www. Gnichols@amigo.net. The World Championship Pack Burro Race this year will take place on July 30 and 31.

Fairplay is just an hour and a half from Denver or Colorado Springs. The Hand Hotel and the Fairplay Hotel are both vintage establishments that claim to have ghosts on the premises at night.

Accommodations for RV parking can be made at the Western Inn Motel and RV Park or the Gold Miners Inn and RV Park. For campers wanting a more rustic experience, go to Horseshoe and Four Mile at Leavick and camp in the forest service campgrounds. (The old Leavick ghost town is nearby.) Another option is the KOA Kampground in Buena Vista.

One other note: Mosquito Pass is the highest auto pass in North America. Only four-wheel drives should attempt it. Dee Hive Jeep Tours (719-486-2339) provides a scenic tour of Mosquito Pass.

Marti French is a writer who divides time between Colorado and Arizona.