Ptarmigan Lake Lyrics

There's a five stamp mill on the good side of a bad, bad hill

And the bucket run about fifteen hours a day

And a man's good will ain't worth the moss on a whiskey still

So don't follow me to Ptarmigan Lake

There's a vein cut through the mountain they say is paved with gold

But the tunnel hold it's secrets while a thousand men grow old

Said goodbye to my mother, said goodbye to my home

Nary a part of me that ain't been sold

To that five stamp mill on the good side of a bad, bad hill

And the bucket run about fifteen hours a day

And a man's good will ain't worth the moss on a whiskey still

So don't follow me to Ptarmigan Lake

You know it's hard to be honest with pockets never full

Union dues and worn-out shoes began to take their toll

So if the boss man he don't notice and the watch man he don't think

One handful at a time, I'll take this mountain to the bank

Instead of that five stamp mill on the good side of a bad, bad hill

And the bucket run about fifteen hours a day

And a man's good will ain't worth the moss on a whiskey still

So don't follow me to Ptarmigan Lake

The day they finally caught me, the word spread fast and wide

Till there was no way off the mountain and no place left to hide

Water, cold, will rest my soul in a grave so deep and high

They take me down to Telluride, but they won't take me down dry

Down to that five stamp mill on the good side of a bad, bad hill

And the bucket run about fifteen hours a day

And a man's good will ain't worth the moss on a whiskey still

So don't follow me to Ptarmigan Lake