Saturday, September 1, 2012

Looking for Bachelors


While the WINs were staying outside of Creede, CO, we decided to do the Bachelor Loop, north of town. I was excited!


But then I found out that the Bachelor Loop is a 17-mile drive through the old silver mines of Creede. The mines were located along the line of the largest silver ore vein in the area. Lots of picturesque scenery and rusty stuff. Wow! That's even better!


The rocks here are unbelievable!


The first stop was the Commodore Mine. This is the ore house, where the ore was loaded into wagons for the trip to the end of the railroad line, where the ore was then loaded into waiting cars for its journey to mills for processing.


The mine extends all the way up the hillside. There are almost 200 miles of tunnels in the mine. It's one of the greatest silver mines on earth, with ore production spanning from 1891 to 1976.


The next stop was the old Weaver Town Site. Not much remains, but several hundred people once lived here.


The Amethyst mine consisted of 12 levels. As much as 1500 ounces of silver per ton were found at the original site.


That's a lot of silver!


Overlooking the Amethyst mine are buildings from the Last Chance Mine.


Later in the loop, we get a closer look at them. It's amazing that they are still standing on the hillside.


Overlooking the town of Creede is the cemetery. The most famous person buried here is Bob Ford, who killed Jesse James in 1892. Two months later, Ford was killed by a friend of Jesse James. Although Ford was originally buried here, his body was moved to Missouri 2 months later.


Back in town, I found a great piece of rusty stuff. The end to a perfect day!

15 comments:

  1. You found your perfect "rusty" man. Hope that doesn't make Phil jealous. Are you calling him Rusty?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I use to spend a lot of time in the Uncompahgre Wilderness there... love that area...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm it lоοks like уour blog atе my first comment (it was extгemely long) so I guеss I'll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I'm
    thorоughly еnjoying your blog. I too am an aspirіng blog writer but Ι'm still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for newbie blog writers? I'd genuinеlу aρрreсiate іt.
    Also see my web site - bnc cable

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like another great drive. Next time we come back to that area we hope to be towing a higher clearance vehicle so we can go to some of those places we can't drive the car.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an interesting drive. Are you SURE you didn't see any bachelors?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a great drive. We love those old mines and would love to explore this area and I am sure there would be lots of hiking around there too!

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do you plan to come over Slumgullion Pass to Lake City? That's where we are - until October 1. I'd love to meet you finally!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dang! I was going to ask you to forward me a bachelor. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. That whole area is gorgeous. Wish I'd had more time to explore when I was there. A good excuse to go back.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Donna - Unfortunately, Rusty decided that fulltime Rving was not for him.

    Jim & Gayle - A regular car can do the loop - It's dirt, but well graded.

    Cyndi - Sorry, didn't go that way. I'm in Pagosa Springs now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bachelor loop must be a really busy place on Sadie Hawkins Day! ;c)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love that part of our Country.....especially Creede. It is amazing that these buildings are still standing....as the weather there in the winter can be mighty nasty! LOL LOL

    xo

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great loop. I love old mining towns. And I can't believe you couldn't convince old Rusty about the joys of Rving.

    ReplyDelete
  14. We started out doing that loop, but it was just too scary in the Saturn. We did also some of the easier part from the other end.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!