I took my rig high into Colorado’s San Juan Mountains to spend the night near Animas Forks—an abandoned mining town sitting above 11,000 feet where the wind feels like it’s carrying old names. In this film, I walk you through what’s real history (silver in 1872, gold later, the town swelling to around 450 people) and what the mountains leave you to imagine. You’ll see the craftsmanship of the cabins, the mine remnants, and the kind of winter that once forced folks to tunnel between houses when snow stacked up to 25 feet. But I also wanted to give this place something it’s missing: a piece of folklore. I lay out how I think folklore works—rooted in fact, embellished, and able to withstand time—and then I tell my own historical fiction: “The Greedy Ghost of Animas Forks.” It follows Elias Dimitri, a prospector with a secret claim, a bad night in a saloon, and a disappearance that still feels plausible when you’re standing out there after dark. John and I set base camp where I could still see the old jail in daylight, ate tacos, sipped a little Yellowstone whiskey, and let the silence do what it does best—make you wonder what’s still walking those ruins.