Old Landmine has Been Sitting at Colorado’s Camp Hale for Decades
It's pretty likely that you're familiar with the 10th Mountain Division, a division of the United States Army that trained at high elevations in order to be able to fight in mountainous conditions.
The 10th Mountain Division was partially stationed at what is now Camp Hale National Monument, an area between Minturn and Leadville, Colorado that sits at 9,200 feet above sea level.
The camp was formed during World War II and while Camp Hale hasn't been used for military training in decades, the 10th Mountain Division accidentally left behind something very dangerous - a landmine.
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Colorado Hiker Finds Landmine at Camp Hale
A Coloradan was recently enjoying a hike at what is now Camp Hale National Monument recently, a 2.42 square mile area located at 10th Mountain Division Memorial Highway in Leadville when he stumbled upon (luckily not literally upon) an old landmine.
The landmine was used for practice purposes by the 10th Mountain Division likely back in the 1940s, and bears some writing after all this time that reads the following:
R7DLA
1 MINE AT HEAVY PRACTICE
M12 (EMPTY)
LOT
LOADED
WT
CU 4
PRACTICE
The hiker was fortunate that he simply found the landmine and didn't trigger it, after which he called officials to let them know of his discovery and where it was located so that they could come in and destroy it safely.
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Camp Hale is a great place to go hiking these days, as long as you watch out for landmines, apparently, but a few decades ago it was a lot less peaceful.
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