There's gold in them thar hills!

I told you I would eventually post a postcard moment! Just west of Colorado Springs sit a couple of gold mining towns, Cripple Creek and Victor. Gold was discovered in the Pikes Peak region at the end of the 19th century. That's where you get the saying "Pikes Peak or bust" -- thousands of prospectors came to Colorado at the turn of the century hoping to strike it rich. The towns of Cripple Creek and Victor, located on the western slope of Pikes Peak, were once bustling mining communities, but not so much anymore. Victor is effectively a ghost town now with fewer than 500 residents, and Cripple Creek is pretty much given over to casinos and tourism. There are abandoned mines like this all over the place in that area, but believe it or not there is also a functioning, modern gold mine operating right now in Cripple Creek. Of course it's nothing like this photo -- mines these days are more like multinational corporations using the latest scientific technology, so the good old days of "prospectin' fer gold" are long gone.

On October 24th Pat and I made a trip to the mine (the modern one, not this old abandoned one) and I got some scenic pictures. There were quite a few photogenic moments in the wonderful late afternoon light that day. I'll share more in the coming posts.