Up on Cripple Creek: Going to the mines
Picturesque beauty: Cripple Creek's main street of preserved historic shop fronts, restaurants, cafés and souvenir outlets is something all visitors should experience especially as it is doesn't take that long to walk from end to end. Pictures: David Bowden
Sunday, June 29, 2008
CERTAIN things from your youth stick in your mind. The lyrics of Bob Dylan have been significant to many people over several generations.
The acoustic folk hero of the early 1960s made a controversial decision to go electric in the mid-60s and partnered several musicians who became his backing band or The Band.
While their name may have been uninspiring, their music was the complete opposite and the 1968 album, 'Music From Big Pink', is a collector's item.
The Band went on to record many other classic albums and the Martin Scorsese movie 'The Last Waltz' should be in everyone's DVD collection.
One of their more memorable songs, 'Up On Cripple Creek', has stuck in my mind forever. So when the opportunity to visit Cripple Creek arose when last in Colorado I immediately fired up the iPod and packed the bag. I must admit it was the song's chorus and tune that I was more familiar with and I knew little of the actual place that was so central to The Band's song.
While researching new destinations is advisable for most tourists, travelling with an open or blank mind sometimes has its advantages.
Being conscious of this, the glistening Pike's Peak Heritage Centre perched high above the town was my first stop. The centre is like all visitors' centres should be — welcoming, informative and full of useful information.
Views from here across the Rocky Mountains are superb at all times of the year. When I was there it was winter so the mountains were dusted in snow and, Pikes Peak at 4,642m rises high above the range between Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs. There are 14 peaks in Colorado known as '14ers' as they all exceed 14,000'.
Cripple Creek exists because there was gold in those hills and there still is. Not far from the Heritage Centre are several gold mining operations that still extract gold. Gold was discovered in 1876 by a local cowboy ranch hand in a place called Poverty Gulch.
Poverty Gulch it didn't stay for long though as some 22 million ounces of gold were extracted during the peak years between 1890 and 1910. This was more than enough gold to enable 30 lucky miners to become millionaires. At one stage there were 500 gold mines and 50,000 people living in the town thus making it the world's biggest gold mining camp.
It's now possible to travel 330 metres below the surface to see the gold mining process in a fully operational mine. The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour is a must for all visitors as it is a testament to the hardships and struggles that the miners endured in search of their fortune.
Winfield Scott Stratton was one miner who finally struck pay dirt but it took him 15 years before he made his discovery. His partner, Spencer Penrose, used some of his wealth to build Colorado Springs premier hotel, The Broadmoors.
At its mining peak there were three railroads and two electric trolley cars in the district. During the summer months (mid-May to mid-October) visitors can still enjoy the thrill of riding one of them, the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railway that operates all the way to Victor and back. The steam locomotive journey departs from the station next to the Cripple Creek District Museum at the beginning of the main street. Kids especially love the excitement of steam train travel and exploring the gold mining paraphernalia in the museum.
Cripple Creek's main street of preserved historic shop fronts, restaurants, cafés and souvenir outlets is something all visitors should experience especially as it is doesn't take that long to walk from end to end. At the far end of town is the historic Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum where visitors can experience the shadier side of living in a frontier gold mining area. The building formerly served as the Teller County Jail from 1902 to the mid-1990s and the original cells have been preserved for visitors to appreciate the hardship of being incarcerated here. As school is now out for summer, visitors to Cripple Creek should consider a rather unique form of accommodation — a room in the former Cripple Creek High School. Now known as Carr Manor and operated as a boutique inn it offers guests the opportunity to sleep in one of the former classrooms. Blackboards are still in place and guests are openly encouraged to record their comments here. Whispering Pines B & B with Victorian styling and just five rooms is located west of town on a high ridge with superb mountain views. The Mountain Suite comes with a hydrotherapy air tub with underwater mood lights. The gateway to the region is via Colorado Springs Airport and from here it's best to drive to Cripple Creek westward along Highway 24 to Woodland Park which makes a great place to stop to enjoy the fare at one of many great restaurants and cafés here. Continue westward until the Highway 67 intersection and then head southwards up into the Rocky Mountains to Cripple Creek.
The Brunei Times
The acoustic folk hero of the early 1960s made a controversial decision to go electric in the mid-60s and partnered several musicians who became his backing band or The Band.
While their name may have been uninspiring, their music was the complete opposite and the 1968 album, 'Music From Big Pink', is a collector's item.
The Band went on to record many other classic albums and the Martin Scorsese movie 'The Last Waltz' should be in everyone's DVD collection.
One of their more memorable songs, 'Up On Cripple Creek', has stuck in my mind forever. So when the opportunity to visit Cripple Creek arose when last in Colorado I immediately fired up the iPod and packed the bag. I must admit it was the song's chorus and tune that I was more familiar with and I knew little of the actual place that was so central to The Band's song.
While researching new destinations is advisable for most tourists, travelling with an open or blank mind sometimes has its advantages.
Being conscious of this, the glistening Pike's Peak Heritage Centre perched high above the town was my first stop. The centre is like all visitors' centres should be — welcoming, informative and full of useful information.
Views from here across the Rocky Mountains are superb at all times of the year. When I was there it was winter so the mountains were dusted in snow and, Pikes Peak at 4,642m rises high above the range between Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs. There are 14 peaks in Colorado known as '14ers' as they all exceed 14,000'.
Cripple Creek exists because there was gold in those hills and there still is. Not far from the Heritage Centre are several gold mining operations that still extract gold. Gold was discovered in 1876 by a local cowboy ranch hand in a place called Poverty Gulch.
Poverty Gulch it didn't stay for long though as some 22 million ounces of gold were extracted during the peak years between 1890 and 1910. This was more than enough gold to enable 30 lucky miners to become millionaires. At one stage there were 500 gold mines and 50,000 people living in the town thus making it the world's biggest gold mining camp.
It's now possible to travel 330 metres below the surface to see the gold mining process in a fully operational mine. The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour is a must for all visitors as it is a testament to the hardships and struggles that the miners endured in search of their fortune.
Winfield Scott Stratton was one miner who finally struck pay dirt but it took him 15 years before he made his discovery. His partner, Spencer Penrose, used some of his wealth to build Colorado Springs premier hotel, The Broadmoors.
At its mining peak there were three railroads and two electric trolley cars in the district. During the summer months (mid-May to mid-October) visitors can still enjoy the thrill of riding one of them, the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railway that operates all the way to Victor and back. The steam locomotive journey departs from the station next to the Cripple Creek District Museum at the beginning of the main street. Kids especially love the excitement of steam train travel and exploring the gold mining paraphernalia in the museum.
Cripple Creek's main street of preserved historic shop fronts, restaurants, cafés and souvenir outlets is something all visitors should experience especially as it is doesn't take that long to walk from end to end. At the far end of town is the historic Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum where visitors can experience the shadier side of living in a frontier gold mining area. The building formerly served as the Teller County Jail from 1902 to the mid-1990s and the original cells have been preserved for visitors to appreciate the hardship of being incarcerated here. As school is now out for summer, visitors to Cripple Creek should consider a rather unique form of accommodation — a room in the former Cripple Creek High School. Now known as Carr Manor and operated as a boutique inn it offers guests the opportunity to sleep in one of the former classrooms. Blackboards are still in place and guests are openly encouraged to record their comments here. Whispering Pines B & B with Victorian styling and just five rooms is located west of town on a high ridge with superb mountain views. The Mountain Suite comes with a hydrotherapy air tub with underwater mood lights. The gateway to the region is via Colorado Springs Airport and from here it's best to drive to Cripple Creek westward along Highway 24 to Woodland Park which makes a great place to stop to enjoy the fare at one of many great restaurants and cafés here. Continue westward until the Highway 67 intersection and then head southwards up into the Rocky Mountains to Cripple Creek.
The Brunei Times
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