A big earth hauler rumbles down the grade as we approach the American Eagles Overlook. The overlook provides a commanding view of the massive strip mine that is slowly swallowing the entire Cripple Creek Mining District. The mine is run by the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company.
The haul road.
HUGE overburden piles.
Our first peek into this massive open strip mine.
That itty bitty truck is a massive behemoth of the same size that passed us on the haul road.
The old American Eagle mine.
A truck dumping gold-bearing ore to be later leached with cyanide for its precious metals.
No clue what this contraption once was.
The old blacksmiths shop.
Snowcapped peaks in the distance.
Old winch setup to bring the gold-bearing ore to the surface.
Pikes Peak is somewhere over there.
The huge cable drums for the dual winches.
The massive wooden-shoed brakes sit idly, waiting for someday in the distant future when they might be useful again.
This dual winch setup had originally started its life as a steam-powered piston-driven setup.
At some point it was electrified. This appears to be a massive resistor or capacitor bank although I’ve never quite seen something of this design before. Perhaps one of my electrical engineering friends can chime in.
The big wheel facing the camera was used to determine what level the winch was at.
The toothed gears were added later so that a big electric motor could drive the winch drums.
All that is left of what must have been a very expensive motor.
One of the huge truck tires with Heather standing inside.
Huge trucks heading up the haul road.
Heather on the back of a huge truck bed.
The huge excavator is barely visible in this photo. This place is MASSIVE! Also note the old mine shafts poking out from the sides of different cliff faces. The old hard rock miners didn’t get all the gold.
A big front end loader bucket.
