As promised, my wife hiked this one with me.  It was so great to have her along and it was her first CO 14er!  Congratulations my love!

The rock road from 285 in Fairplay is long and rough at times but we saw a Nissan Altima (relatively low clearance) parked at the trailhead so I think it is passable for most vehicles.  We didn't have any trouble following the trail and keeping to the right as many have suggested.  We used AllTrails and there is a large arrow made from rocks in the middle of the road pointing to the right.

The abandoned mines are cool but I thought the best feature of this hike was the ridgeline.  It doesn't compare to some others I've done (i.e. Yale) but it is very safe and still exhilarating.  The trail across it is easy to follow.  The abundance of wildflowers seemed out of place in the barren landscape but they were plentiful and beautiful.

I'm a little bit of a gadget nerd so I have a wind speed measurement device (anemometer).  I clocked some gusts of 30 mph on the ridge!  We had a great day!