Berk has her first job…as a gold miner

We did it! We finally found a gold mine! WOW I never knew how challenging it was to be a minor. Did you know that only 5% of the gold found is in nugget form? The rest is embedded in granite and it takes a very sophisticated smelting process to extract it. The process is / was so dangerous in the late 1800’s to the mid-1900’s that the average miner only lived to 38 years old. They died primarily from granite dust getting in to their lungs and causing numerous diseases. Terrible way to go!

We drove to a town called Cripple Creek, CO that is actually a gamblers paradise. Tour buses leave from ports all over the city every few hours and drive to Cripple Creek. Mainly full of retired people, they can spend the entire day gambling if they so desire. Go figure! My Dad has wanted to show me the town for years, but we just never seemed to get around to it until the other day. It was fun. We had lunch, toured an old fashioned jail (and got “booked”), and learned about wild donkeys that have free reign around the town. But, I think the most fun my Mom and Dad had was just sitting next to each other at the nickel slots. Every time they pulled the hammer down, they looked at each other and smiled. I guess they still kind-of like each other in some ways. Berk and I stayed outside as no children are allowed in, but it was fun for us knowing that they were having such a nice time.

The end result, they both lost about $1 in 45 minutes of adult play time.

In any case, we went to the Molly Kathleen Gold Mine. It has been in existence for more than 150 years and is the main gold mine shaft in the area. All of the other mines tie in to this one in order to facilitate cleaner air through cross ventilation. We travelled down the shaft more than 1000 feet in an open air double-decker elevator. It was really neat. The entire shaft is made of granite. There have been no cave-ins, nor have there been any floods. I guess granite really is meant to last. We explored several spurs and were able to see and touch many of the gold veins or ore. They no longer work this mine even though gold is readily seen. Berk was even able to operate some of the old air-driven drilling equipment and ride a mining “bike” that the miners used to travel to their work sites. At the end of the tour we were able to pick a piece of gold ore from a huge container filled with it. They believe this particular container holds about 10-15 ounces of gold, but have it under lock and key in the mine as part of the tour.


Needless to say, Berk was hired as a miner at the end of the tour, but she did not seem that thrilled. “It’s too dirty and loud”, she proclaimed. My wonderful girl!