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!
