Midas

You probably know by now that the closest town to our ranch is Midas. Midas is a quaint, tiny little "town", tucked into a small valley about 6 miles away from us. Midas history goes back into the 1800's when it was a "booming" gold rush town. At its prime, it had almost 1500 residents. The size of the town varied significantly with the flow of gold, and now has only about 16 year round residents. This time of year, the town grows a bit with people spending time in their summer cabins, and relatives coming to visit. Of those that live in the town full time, most are retired, however a few mine workers live there. There is no school and no post office.

There is one business in town, the Midas Saloon and Dinner House. They make incredible burgers, really good pizza, and great salads too. The owners, George and Terry, do a pretty good job of knowing everybody by name, and introducing new comers to the regulars like you would introduce two people who were in your living room. We end up there at least once a week, and now and then the whole ranch heads over there for a group meal.

The rest of Midas, (other than a few manufactured homes), is made up of small dwellings that are often refurbished original cabins or previous businesses. Last weekend, while my parents were here for a visit, we went to Midas to check out some of the older features, and stop in and let Terry cook us a burger.

These are photos of old mines, ( the door going into the side of the mountain) run down unoccupied cabins, and the saloon.