Cripple Creek, CO

Cripple Creek, CO was a sleepy cattle town on the southwest slopes of Pikes Peak Mountain at an elevation of over 9000 feet. That all ended in 1891 when gold was discovered and the town became the center of a massive hunt for buried treasure. By 1900, it was a unique cultural and economic center for the region.

As so often happens, when the rush was over the town found itself struggling for a new identity. It found itself in a new kind of Gold rush-casinos. When we arrived after a pleasant drive through the mountains, if sometimes harrowing for the steep curves and the need to dodge the roaming cattle, we found a small town that at first seemed to be booming with all the old store fronts doing well. You quickly find out that this is a bit misleading as behind those fronts there are only extensive casinos waiting to lighten your purse. The whole town is now literally these gambling establishments.

http://www.cripple-creek.co.us

Nevertheless we enjoyed walking the streets and looking thru the gaming places. We also had a very good lunch in town before heading to the heritage center across from the Mollie Kathleen Mine. Here you can catch up on the history of the area and enjoy still more spectacular views. We then headed to the mine for a tour of a real gold mine that was in operation from the late 1800’s until the 1950’s. You drop down in a very narrow mine shaft to the lowest level of the mine, which is 1000 feet from the surface. The guide was very good and explained and demonstrated the many hardships of working in this mine before current mining rules were in place. About 10% of the work force suffered some kind of injury nearly every day with numerous deaths from the harsh conditions.

One of the major reasons for these shaft mine closures was the development of new and improved?? procedures that started the practice of strip mining the entire mountain. We will head to a nearby town to check on this kind of operation next.

Even if you have no interest in gambling, the scenery and gold mine tour are well worth the visit.

http://www.goldminetours.com/Home.html

A royal anniversary

Yesterday was our 29th anniversary and we spent the day on a rail tour of the Royal Gorge of Colorado. This is a deep and narrow gorge approximately 12 miles long carved out by the Arkansas River. The rail line was first built to carry silver ore out of the area. The region has a very interesting history, but today our interest was in enjoying the natural beauty of the river and gorge and enjoy the advertised gourmet lunch in the dome car as we traveled along the route.

It was a perfect day and the train was not crowded and we were able to have a very relaxed journey with a good meal and enjoyed the great scenery. A special attraction of the ride is the view of the Royal Gorge Bridge with sits well over a thousand feet above the river.

There remains evidence of the workers who struggled to build the railroad and some of their buildings and the wooden water lines that were run along the gorge walls. Today the river is enjoyed by the locals and tourists as a great outdoor venue. When we were here over 20 years ago we made the trip through the gorge in rafts. This was a much more relaxed and civilized way to enjoy the scenery.

www.royalgorgeroute.com

Visiting Friends part two

A week ago Friday, we made a repeat trip to visit with our friends Dirk and Kryna. It has taken me awhile to get this entry online because even as we were enjoying that trip, I was beginning to have some dental pain which turned into four days of searching for a good dentist and fighting the pain that goes with an abscessed tooth. Long story short, having found a good dentist, a root canal and new crown, lots of money, I am back on track.

Getting back to the story, Dirk and Kryna wanted to show us Breckenridge, which is a well known ski resort that got its start as a gold mine town, where they mined gold out of the river with dredges. There are still many reminders of that time, including a dredge in service as a restaurant. Near their favorite ski resort, we hiked up a trail next to a ski slope and arrived at a very scenic view by a small lake. Along the way, we saw the reminders of the nature inhabitants in the form of beaver dams which co-exist with new human residents.

Along the way we briefly visited several other small resort towns like Keystone village, Idaho Springs, where had some great pizza, and Dillon, where we enjoyed a great locally brewed beer.

We had another great day of exploration with the added pleasure of seeing old friends and sharing in their local knowledge.

Visiting friends

On Saturday we visited friends that we have known since the early 1980’s when we all lived around Cleveland, Ohio. With the transient nature of life today, we have not seen each other often since those days in Cleveland, but as luck would have it, they now reside near Denver.

We met Dirk and Kryna at their home in Littleton, Co and quickly started to catch up on events since the last time we saw each other. We decided to take in a little of the local area. We started with a tour of Red Rocks-This is an Amphitheatre concert park constructed among some beautiful red rock formations that are not unlike the formations in the Garden of the Gods. This park has been in operation since 1941.

http://www.redrocksonline.com/

We then headed to the town of Golden, CO. It is a thriving town that lives fully in the present but also remembers its past. Its slogan of “where the west lives” reflects this duality. Of course, it may be best known as the home of Coors beer, which was started here in the late 1800’s along Clear Creek. The statue of Buffalo Bill Cody is a reminder of how much this well known western figure loved the area. In fact, Buffalo Bill is buried nearby on Lookout Mountain.

We walked the town and enjoyed the blend of the historic park with busy activity along Clear Creek. We found a good restaurant for a lunch which would not be complete without having the famous local brew.

http://ci.golden.co.us/

After lunch, we did some more exploring and headed back to Dirk and Kryna’s to continue our discussions and an attempt at resolving the world’s problems. Then a great BBQ and more conversation.

We had very nice visit.