Off Road Travels Down Red Rock Shelf Road & a Visit to a Prison Museum & a Gold Mine

(Cripple Creek, Colorado) 29 degrees and snowing

Yesterday we woke up to freezing temperatures and snow.  Good Grief!  Certainly not a good start to our precious day off.  We checked the weather and found out that in Canon City (about an 1 1/2 hours from here) the weather was over 20 degrees warmer  That was all the encouragement we needed. 

We have been to Canon City  before and someone had recommended the Museum of Colorado Prisons.  The museum is housed in the former women's prison (1871). The are 14 prisons in Canon City.  "We love 'em" was a comment given by a recent mayor. 

The cost was $7 per person and it was a very interesting and rather macabre museum.  You can see the gas chamber, confiscated weapons, prison uniforms,  and a hangman's noose from the last hanging.  The exhibits are displayed in actual cells of the prison.  We received a audio tour to listen to as we walked around the prison and grounds.  There is also a gift shop that sells merchandise made by inmates at a nearby prison. 

After doing some grocery shopping at Walmart we drove back to Cripple Creek by the Red Rock Shelf Road.  It starts off as a paved road but quickly changes to dirt.  This is our third Jeep worthy trip and it was by far the most breathtaking.  Literally! There were sheer cliffs with no guard rails on a very narrow one lane road.  Check out this step drop off. 

 

John did a great job driving but this road is not for the faint of heart.  I found it to be very unnerving.  After we crossed the river it was easier and more enjoyable at least for me.  John was in heaven throughout. 

 

 

Traffic Jam

The weather today was much better.  We decided to take a tour of the first gold mine owned by a woman.  It is located in Cripple Creek and the claim was staked by Mollie Kathleen in 1891.  The cost of the tour is  $18 per person. 

We put on hard hats and descended with 8 other folks over 1000 feet below the surface in a sort of elevator called a man-skip shift ride.  It descended quickly and smoothly.  There was a small light in the cage but otherwise it was completely dark.  At the bottom we were met by our guide. 

Demonstrating the different types of lights used to illuminate the mine

He demonstrated  how the drilling has evolved over the years.   It was very interesting.  We walked along the actual tracks  that were used to haul the ore out of the mine. 

Vertical shaft following the gold vein

We rode the modern cars that transport the ore out of the mine

Gold vein in natural state

It was a very informative tour and we would highly recommend it.  We enjoyed our two days off. 

Original mining shaft