Caribou Mines has volunteered to provide the emergency front loader service to the Cardinal Mill when the drifts on the road become extreme. This volunteer commitment comes in addition to the fact that the Mining Company already plows, from Five Points on Caribou Road up to the top, providing access for winter recreationalists.

When the winds picked up on January 15, blowing snow by the old Switzerland Trail trestle site, it was evident that the Cardinal Townsite’s 1976 F250 plow was the wrong tool for the job. The old plow truck had kept up for the first thirty inches that had fallen. Now another fourteen inches came blowing in and the wind packed it hard.

All of the local plowing companies were overwhelmed by the amount of work that week. By Thursday, Meyers Services came to the rescue, digging a tunnel up the road. Still, emergency vehicles could not have made it up to the Cardinal Millsite. The Mill and the Portal of the Boulder County Mine were purchased by Boulder County in 2004. They have been restored and can be visited through Boulder County Parks & Open Space on the Hard Rock Mining Tours.

As the storm moved out and the temperatures warmed (relatively speaking), it became evident that the massive walls of snow needed to be pushed off the edge of the mountainside. Typically, this happens about twice a year. The cost of private services, when a front loader must drive at thirty miles per hour from Ward or Gilpin County, become prohibitive.

Boulder County and the residents of Cardinal thank Caribou Mines for their support in protecting the winter safety of the historic Cardinal Mill.