St Mary’s Glacier sits high up, about an hour from Denver. I’ve always wanted to visit it. Karen being here I thought if would be a fun experience.
Now, I was corrected by a friend that it is no longer called a “glacier” but a “snowfield.” Whatever…it was still fun!
You hike just under a mile up. Being a Sunday, there were MANY people with the same idea. Dogs, though, must have outnumbered people. It was really fun to watch those dogs gravitate to the lake and play in the water. One particular lab had a master not let it in because it was “too cold.” Poor pooch! Bah!
We walked up to the snow and watched storm clouds cover the sky, spurring a retreat earlier than planned.
“Snowfield” above. Stretched pretty far up I was told. Some had skis with, being the type that take turns each month of the year.
The lake:
Signs of fall’s arrival:
Next Karen and I hit the ARGO Goldmine in Idaho Springs. Another I’ve-Always-Wanted-to-do-This activity. Took the tour. Starts with a cool talk and a cheesy film. Then, a self-guided tour (with a pamphlet and signs that were helpful) of a mine-shaft, the mill and the former mouth of the tunnel.
The former mill:
Some background:
CO was a part of the gold rush. At first, gold was panned from streams with success. Running out, those looking for fortune switched to digging in the hills, an arduous, tedious, dangerous task. (We’re talking 6″ of depth per day for two people blasting and digging.) Very few succeeded in finding the “mother lode.” ARGO had a 4.2 mile tunnel, dug over years, that pushed through bedrock north to Central City, the epicenter of North-Central CO mining. Folks’ shafts pushed down, emptying into the ARGO tunnel, their ore being carted to the mill for processing. The tunnel also served to drain water off the mines, a growing problem due to their depths of a thousand feet or more. 100,000 million dollars worth of gold ore passed through it. Over 13,000 mining claims were recorded in the area from 1859-1861.
A water-filled shaft-system collapsed in 1937, filling the tunnel with water, killing several, and rendering it useless ever since. Infact, Nat’l Geographic attempted to enter to document and the pH was in the 2.something range making it a deadly environment. Sealed, the tunnel is a remnant of the boom and bust years.
Excellent history here, way more than I can summarize along with historic photos: http://www.historicargotours.com/history.html
The mouth:
Karen and I at the entrance of the Double Eagle Mine:
The coolest fossilized dinosaur poo!
Inside the mill, it’s rickety, descends the hillside. They were smart to use gravity for moving the ore downhill for processing. They used chemicals, water, and oils to separate the gold from the ore.
The “Widowmaker” drill. The dust from this early drill caused the goldminers’ version of “black lung.” Drills evolved to spray out water while operating, creating a slurry instead. What an unpleasant job. No wonder lifespans were so short.
Imagine needing a ”blast proof” phone at work? Ooof…
The best part? Panning for gold. My three flakes and Karen’s four weren’t the mother lode but it sure was fun learning how to do this. Some folks still pan for gold locally!
Eureka!
