October 31, 2024 • 17 mins
What if the rich history of gold mining was hidden beneath your feet, waiting to be uncovered?
READ MORE IN THE SHOW NOTES + PICTURES 👉 here
☺️ Join me, Alexandra, and my adventurous mom, as we embark on an exhilarating expedition into the heart of the Rocky Mountains, exploring the Molly Kathleen Mine in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
💛 This isn't just any ordinary gold mine tour—it's the only vertical gold mine shaft in America, and we're taking you along for the ride a thousand feet underground in an authentic wooden elevator.
👑 With a touch of whimsy and a dash of historical intrigue, we reveal the story of Molly Kathleen, a pioneering woman whose 1891 stake laid the foundation for this remarkable piece of history.
🌟 Together, we'll navigate cool underground temperatures, share insider tips for your own adventure, and unravel the unexpected realities of gold mining.
🏅From the mine's candlelit early days to its present status as a historical gem, this episode promises a captivating journey for history buffs and adventure-seekers alike.
🔱 Whether you're eager to enrich your travel bucket list or simply curious about the past, this episode offers a rich tapestry of stories and experiences that connect us to an era long gone.
🫅 So grab your jackets and sturdy shoes, and let's wander through time together—happy travels await!
Let's Go Adventuring:
https://thebucketlistmermaid.com/
Follow the Tail:
@TheBucketListMermaid (YouTube)
@thebucketlistmermaid (Instagram)
@TheBucketListMermaid (Pinterest)
Get in Touch:
alexandra@thebucketlistmermaid.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alexandra (00:00):
I would not be good.
I'd get fired as a mucker.
I'm terrible as a mucker.
You sucked at the muck.
We're having way too much funhere.
Hey there, fellow adventurers,and welcome back to Ticket
Before you Kick it where weexplore the hidden gems and
must-see spots that definitelydeserve a place on your bucket
list.
I'm Alexandra, your trustytravel companion, and today
we're going to be mining forgold, figuratively and maybe
(00:23):
literally, as we dig into therich history of the Molly
Kathleen mine in Cripple Creek,colorado.
I am here today again with mymother, who travels full time
with me, and we just go on thesecrazy adventures and report
back to you to see if you wantto also add them to your bucket
list.
So let's talk about what isMolly Kathleen mine, because,
again, I have never heard ofanybody who's done this other
(00:45):
than my aunt about 20 years ago.
So this is definitely more of ahidden gem, not super touristy.
This is the only vertical goldmine shaft in all of America,
and the Molly Kathleen minetakes you down into the Rocky
Mountains and basically justfeels like you are transported
(01:06):
back in time.
Yeah, it's a thousand feet intothe earth.
You go a thousand feet.
That is actually a thousandfeet is the length of about the
Eiffel Tower and a skyscraper oh, go figure.
So that is how far you areactually going into this mine,
and it is exactly what it soundslike.
It is a tour of what the mineused to be like.
(01:26):
It is documented by theNational Geographical Survey as
a gold production mine and let'sjust go into some history of it
, because there's obviously somuch history in this bucket list
activity.
So it's more than just a coolname.
It's actually a tribute toMolly herself, who discovered
this treasure trove back in 1891.
She was actually the firstwoman to strike a claim to her
(01:49):
name in the gold camp and backthen, like women didn't have
rights to anything, oh, yeah, no, they could, definitely.
Yeah, they could not claimtheir name to something of that
substantial value.
So, honestly, good for her, Iabsolutely love it.
And they actually started doingtours of this mine just to get
some extra income, and the earlymining day tours were lit by
(02:12):
candlelight.
Oh see, that would have been somuch better.
I think it would have.
And it was funny because whenwe went on this tour, they
actually showed what it wouldhave been like in candlelight,
because the miners worked incandlelight too.
And was it that they said?
They said that they would haveto do it all without blowing out
the candle, because if you blewout the candle you'd be screwed
(02:33):
, wouldn't you?
Absolutely, yeah, like you is.
It's so dark, it's beyond dark,yeah, so that was like a part
of their job descriptions theyhad to do all of this without
blowing out the candle, anyway.
So the mining actuallycontinued until 1961.
And then they started justdoing tours and they started
revamping everything.
They started adding lights.
No more candlelight tours.
(02:53):
You know, this just makes thismine a truly unique experience,
not just because of its verticaldescent, but just it's just so
much history and walking through, walking through, you literally
feel like you're stepping backin time.
Right, oh, absolutely.
I mean starting with theelevator, which is just this
small wooden box that holdsmaybe six people, and it is
(03:15):
exactly like what you would takedown into a mine, yeah, and you
can just see the differentlevels past you as you go down,
down, down, down down.
It was so funny.
That's actually why we chose itis because it has there says
descend a thousand feet into theground.
That's the only reason we wantto do it.
And us as Adventurers.
I mean, we're like, oh, amining tour.
Like is it going to be touristy?
(03:36):
Is it going to be lame?
Is it going to be, you know,super family friendly, like
friendly, like I want somethingthat that educates me and gets
my heart pumping.
And I was like, okay, we'regoing to figure out if this is
lame within about two seconds.
Yes, and they crammed us intothis elevator shaft literally
like sardines If you'reclaustrophobic, this is a no-go
(03:57):
for you.
Yeah, this part.
And they literally raised usabout 10 feet, eight feet off
the ground and lowered us downand I knew I was like, nope,
this is cool.
Yeah, I was surprised at howlittle I knew about gold mining,
because this isn't a nuggetmine, it's a vein.
It just fascinates me that youdidn't just go in there and see
(04:18):
gold.
Oh, my gosh, there's gold onthe ceiling.
That's what you see in themovies.
Yes, it was this dark vein thatjust looks like dirt, but when
you heat it up, mix it withchemicals, something I can't
remember what it is, butactually it's iron pyrite.
It's like fool's gold is one ofthe things that you can mix it
with.
So they found a lot of ironpyrite and it adhered to the
(04:39):
actual gold and then they woulddo all these chemical processes
and be left with the gold.
But I'm really surprisedbecause I think the founder of
gold in cripple creek discoveredit and he couldn't get anybody
to believe him.
Yeah, he was like, oh well, Iwouldn't believe him because I
was really excited because itadvertises it and it says you
get to see a vein of gold in theearth and I was like, how cool,
(05:01):
I want to see a vein of gold,of solid gold.
And then we looked at it and Iwas like I would pass that on a
hike absolutely not.
No, and I mean it literallyjust looked like a deep purple
stripe, yeah, and everyonethought he was crazy.
So kudos to you for figuringthat out.
So it took us through every stepof how to mine gold, complete
(05:25):
with how they placed thedynamites and how they drilled
the holes and how they had to bedrilled in a specific way to
not kill everybody down thereand to maximize the effect of
trying to find the next goldvein.
And when they turned on thesemachines they were so loud.
They were so loud and it waskind of cool because it was like
(05:46):
they took you in chronologicalorder.
So it started out and theyactually have some really creepy
wax figures down there which Ilet me just say I would not want
to be down there alone.
Oh yeah, it was a little creepy.
It was a little creepy Ghosttour and mind tour, but it was.
It was so interesting becauseyou got to see a again the
candlelight on what they wereworking with and then how they
would just put it in and thenjust start pounding that and you
(06:10):
got to see all their tools.
And then you heard about all ofthe jobs and how much they paid.
Like the mucker yes, like themucker the like he would just
shovel rocks and get everythinginto there and he got paid what?
Like three dollars a day, orthat was a high, less.
That was a job.
Everybody wanted that job, yeah, and if he couldn't do it, then
you're out.
Like if he couldn't muck fastenough, then that was it.
(06:33):
And there is a famous boxeryeah, jack dem.
Jack Dempsey actually triedmucking and didn't and got fired
.
He sucked at mucking, he suckedat the muck.
I'm a suck mucker, I muck and Isuck.
We're having way too much funhere.
Apparently he was terrible atthis and then decided he'd do
(06:54):
boxing instead.
Talk about a career change.
Good for him, yeah, good forhim.
So then they started goingthrough again where to place the
dynamite and all of the drillsthat they would use, and these
are still working.
I was actually very surprised athow much this tour felt like
caving.
Surprisingly, yes, yeah, likethere was a lot of minerals, a
lot of things in there copper,sulfur and we actually got to
(07:16):
look at everything.
Yeah, and I guess that theintricacy and the miles and
miles and miles of cavesunderneath Cripple Creek.
We were talking to a couplelocals and they used to go from
town to town underneath theearth in these caves.
Yeah, our guide was joking thatthey probably have an entire
mining system all the way to hisschool, but he just wouldn't
(07:38):
know how to get there becauseit's so intricate.
Oh, yeah, and so there's justthousands and thousands of
tunnels.
And they also used to say howthey would, uh, pay children to
come in and bring the muckers.
I don't think it was themuckers, it was.
It was a guy who would climb upI forgot the name of it but he
would climb all the way up tothe top.
He got paid the most like $3.
(08:00):
$3 or $4.
Because it was so dangerousbeing up there.
And again, that wax figure wasso far away that it kind of
looked real.
So he shined his light up thereand I went why is that dude up
there?
They also have a wax figure ofsome guy in the outhouse in the
mine, which is a little gross.
Kind of made me want to try outthe outhouse, but no, it
wouldn't help.
(08:20):
Well, also, halfway through yougot to go on this little train
thing through the mine.
So that was really cool.
I've just, it was so impressive.
I've just.
I've just, I don't know why itwas just so cool.
I don't know why I was like, oh, we're going to go tour a mine,
no, it was, it was reallyadventurous, it was just so cool
.
I don't know why I was like, oh, we're gonna go tour a mine.
No, it was, it was reallyadventurous.
It was very informative and Ifelt like I learned a lot about
(08:43):
the mining culture back then andhow they actually used to mine,
and seeing these machines inaction it was like history come
to life.
Well, and they also had symbolsor signals that they're still
being used today.
There was this chart of thesignals that the miners would
use to communicate everything,and it became so popular that I
(09:07):
think it's still used all overthe world.
Yeah, because it was somethinglike they would have so many
incidents and if you think abouthow big these mining things are
and they're blowing things up,they're cartinging gear, there
are so many unknown dangers inthese mines that they just had
accidents all the time, and youcan totally see why they would.
So they came up with thissystem and it's kind of like
(09:27):
morse code for miners, yeah, sowhere they'd have this little
bell at the top of the shaft andthey'd be like, um, this is not
accurate, but they'd be like,okay, two bells, two bells, stop
.
Three bells means golden shaftwith man or you know.
So they would say who wascoming up, or slow or fast,
because it's just gold.
So three bells and then like itwas really cool and again we
(09:50):
got to see that in action too,and that's a practice that their
accidents basically reduced tozero at that point and then they
just started using itinternationally because it was
such a good system and nobodydied from miscommunication
anymore.
Wouldn't you just love to bethat guy that invented it?
And if he could know now thatwhat he came up with would go
(10:10):
worldwide.
That would be so impressive.
And he probably died before Iever found that out.
But dude, you rock, I know, andit's so interesting how
dangerous those were.
I mean, they were talking aboutthis, this drill, how they
would ever found that out.
But, dude, you rock, I know,and it's so interesting how
dangerous those oh were.
I mean, they were talking aboutthis, this drill, how they
would.
They would drill and then allof the fragments of rocks and
the dust would all go into theirlungs and they would all pass
away.
And but then they startedmaking technological
(10:32):
advancements to help this andsee it's very interesting to see
the evolution the evolution andsafety evolution of a gold mine
.
So really, really interesting.
And also in this tour you get totake a little piece of gold,
yeah, with you.
It was really cool.
There was this little sectionthat it was kind of like a
museum but it kind of felt likeyou were in a cave, so it was a
(10:54):
little interesting.
And then the gift shop at theend of it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, you have tohave the gift shop at the end of
it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you haveto have the gift shop at the end
of the tour.
Except this one, it's actuallyincluded in your ticket price
you get to take.
So if you do have families, Iwould definitely recommend this
for more adventurous families.
I think it might scare likeyoung, young children.
Maybe it was pretty loud,unless they're super into mining
, you know, like they're like Ijust want, but it's only because
(11:16):
it's loud.
Yeah, it's loud and thebeginning is a little
claustrophobic, a little bit,but yeah, I think I thought it
was absolutely amazing.
So let's talk logistics, sothat you can also check this off
of your bucket list Best timesto visit.
(11:37):
What we figured out is thatCripple Creek is actually an
average of 10 to 15 degreescooler than Canyon City in
Colorado Springs can definitelyconfirm this, because we
actually went from Cripple Creek, as we're staying in an RV park
.
We went from Cripple Creek toColorado Springs and it was
seriously what 70, maybe 80 atthe most that we saw in Cripple
Creek, but in Colorado Springsit was 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
(11:58):
Cripple Creek was just fun.
We only stopped there becauseit was right in the middle of
point A and point B and we justloved it.
So Cripple Creek, the train,the food, the gambling, the
rafting.
It was just really fun.
Yes, I do have an entireCripple Creek bucket list, as
per usual, if you do want tocheck it out.
(12:19):
In the show notes today, sayingeverything that we kind of
killed Cripple Creek, I'm notgonna lie, we did everything.
So I'm definitely going to besharing more info on that,
including more info about theMolly Kathleen mine.
But, yeah, I think summer is agood way to go here.
It's cool and also theunderground temperature sits
around 50 to 55 degrees all thetime, so it really doesn't
(12:40):
matter when you do the mine.
Yeah, yeah, you're not going tofreeze more, yeah, but I think
summer would be perfect becauseyou could go in there.
It's so nice and cool.
It would be like such a niceescape from the heat.
So, definitely, I would go withsummer, and it's also important
to note that it is only openMay through the second week to
(13:01):
October, so it is not open allyear round.
What to expect?
We kind of talked about it.
You will descend a thousandfeet underneath the ground and,
yeah, it's deeper than youraverage skyscraper and the
Eiffel Tower, so I woulddefinitely wear sturdy shoes, um
, because some of the ground isa little bit uneven in dirt.
(13:22):
As I said, it looks like a cave, so be prepared to wander
around a cave.
Yeah, they didn't tourist it upat all, oh no, it's very
authentic.
It is very authentic, which iswhy I liked it.
Yeah, me too, yeah.
And then also, just because itis 50 to 55 degrees, bring a
jacket.
I personally, I was fine, lovedit.
I was just wandering around ina t-shirt and I thought it was
(13:44):
great.
What about the descent?
Let's talk about it.
It is slightly claustrophobic.
You are packed in there prettytightly.
This is true.
You got to really love yourneighbor, your elevator partner.
Yep, the tour itself isn'tclaustrophobic.
Even though you're in a cave,it's not like you're spelunking.
I think if you had extremeclaustrophobia, I probably
wouldn't do it.
No gosh, if you had any kind ofclaustrophobia, don't do it.
(14:06):
Yeah, but I think generally, Ithink you would be just fine.
I mean, there were children onour tour, yeah, and it was well
lit, and you don't.
All the ceilings are normalheight and actually I did find
out that the reason why they'renot spelunking down there is
because they had to get all theequipment in and out through
there, so that's why thepassages are so large.
So there you go.
(14:28):
The elevator does take about twominutes, or the shaft, is that
I mean?
Is it even called an elevator?
The mine shaft?
It takes about two minutes.
Or the shaft, is that I mean?
Is it even called an elevator?
The mine shaft?
It takes about two minutes andit's about 500 feet per second,
which is about five miles anhour, which sounds quick, but
did you know that the modernelevators actually go around 23
miles an hour really?
However, you don't feel likeyou're going 23 miles an hour in
(14:49):
an elevator, but that felt fastto me.
Interesting, did it feel fastto you?
Yeah, I think the only elevatorthat I think seems fast is the
one at universal studios, thetwilight terror.
Okay, but it's not, that'smeant to be fast.
The tower of terror, yeah, thetwilight zone ride, yeah, the
one that's purposefully supposedto drop you, yeah, that
probably is the fastest elevatoryou've ever been on.
(15:11):
It's true, good job.
It's true, good job.
Now, talking about the walkingtour, let's just talk about the
difficulty.
Super easy, easy.
Yeah, I think it's easy.
It's pretty much flat and youonly have to walk about a
quarter of a mile.
You take a train, the it'sactually called a tram, air
locomotive.
That's where we saw the guy inthe outhouse, I mean.
(15:31):
But if you are handicapped,really isn't no, I unfortunately
it is not ada accessible justbecause it is a mine and it's
not, you know, like cave of thewinds.
If you've ever been to cave ofthe winds in colorado springs
like that's very touristy andit's made for to be accessible
to people.
(15:52):
This, this, is not like that.
This is a authentic verticalmine shaft where you go down
there and it looks pretty muchexactly how it was.
I think they have some railingsthat are down there, but it
feels pretty much like you'restepping back into the old
mining towns, which again makesit worth it, for me for sure.
(16:12):
They just walk you around, showyou everything, show you the
veins, give you a little bit ofgold, talk about the history of
it.
Remind you that it's not reallyfun to be a mucker.
Don't be a mucker.
I'm so glad that I'm not amucker.
I would not be good.
I'd get fired as a mucker.
I'm terrible as a mucker.
Yeah, I just.
(16:37):
This entire town feels likeyou're stepping back in time.
So I would 100% recommend thisto history buffs, people who
just love learning about things,families who enjoy maybe some
history with a little bit of anadventurous spark.
Yeah, I absolutely love it.
Just, the mine attractstourists from all over and it
just preserves history and Ilove that.
(16:59):
If you are there, yeah,definitely go into Cripple Creek
.
Check out that bucket list.
The whole thing just feels likeit was charming, just charming,
and you just got a bunch ofcasinos.
We were joking that CrippleCreek felt like Estes Park had a
baby with Las Vegas and outpopped a cowboy, so quirky and
(17:21):
weird.
Well, adventurers, it's time towrap up our little gold mining
expedition.
The Molly Kathleen mine is justan experience.
It's an experience, yes, andit's just a chance to connect
with history, nature.
So, yeah, definitely add thislittle hidden gem to your bucket
list and don't forget to tunein next week as we explore yet
another captivating corner ofthe world.
(17:43):
And until then, just keepwandering and keep adventuring.
Happy travels, yeah, and do notfart in the elevator on the way
down, just saying Thank youguys.
See you next time.
I would not be good.
I'd get fired as a mucker.
I'm terrible as a mucker.
You sucked at the muck.
We're having way too much funhere.
Hey there, fellow adventurers,and welcome back to Ticket
Before you Kick it where weexplore the hidden gems and
must-see spots that definitelydeserve a place on your bucket
list.
I'm Alexandra, your trustytravel companion, and today
we're going to be mining forgold, figuratively and maybe
(00:23):
literally, as we dig into therich history of the Molly
Kathleen mine in Cripple Creek,colorado.
I am here today again with mymother, who travels full time
with me, and we just go on thesecrazy adventures and report
back to you to see if you wantto also add them to your bucket
list.
So let's talk about what isMolly Kathleen mine, because,
again, I have never heard ofanybody who's done this other
(00:45):
than my aunt about 20 years ago.
So this is definitely more of ahidden gem, not super touristy.
This is the only vertical goldmine shaft in all of America,
and the Molly Kathleen minetakes you down into the Rocky
Mountains and basically justfeels like you are transported
(01:06):
back in time.
Yeah, it's a thousand feet intothe earth.
You go a thousand feet.
That is actually a thousandfeet is the length of about the
Eiffel Tower and a skyscraper oh, go figure.
So that is how far you areactually going into this mine,
and it is exactly what it soundslike.
It is a tour of what the mineused to be like.
(01:26):
It is documented by theNational Geographical Survey as
a gold production mine and let'sjust go into some history of it
, because there's obviously somuch history in this bucket list
activity.
So it's more than just a coolname.
It's actually a tribute toMolly herself, who discovered
this treasure trove back in 1891.
She was actually the firstwoman to strike a claim to her
(01:49):
name in the gold camp and backthen, like women didn't have
rights to anything, oh, yeah, no, they could, definitely.
Yeah, they could not claimtheir name to something of that
substantial value.
So, honestly, good for her, Iabsolutely love it.
And they actually started doingtours of this mine just to get
some extra income, and the earlymining day tours were lit by
(02:12):
candlelight.
Oh see, that would have been somuch better.
I think it would have.
And it was funny because whenwe went on this tour, they
actually showed what it wouldhave been like in candlelight,
because the miners worked incandlelight too.
And was it that they said?
They said that they would haveto do it all without blowing out
the candle, because if you blewout the candle you'd be screwed
(02:33):
, wouldn't you?
Absolutely, yeah, like you is.
It's so dark, it's beyond dark,yeah, so that was like a part
of their job descriptions theyhad to do all of this without
blowing out the candle, anyway.
So the mining actuallycontinued until 1961.
And then they started justdoing tours and they started
revamping everything.
They started adding lights.
No more candlelight tours.
(02:53):
You know, this just makes thismine a truly unique experience,
not just because of its verticaldescent, but just it's just so
much history and walking through, walking through, you literally
feel like you're stepping backin time.
Right, oh, absolutely.
I mean starting with theelevator, which is just this
small wooden box that holdsmaybe six people, and it is
(03:15):
exactly like what you would takedown into a mine, yeah, and you
can just see the differentlevels past you as you go down,
down, down, down down.
It was so funny.
That's actually why we chose itis because it has there says
descend a thousand feet into theground.
That's the only reason we wantto do it.
And us as Adventurers.
I mean, we're like, oh, amining tour.
Like is it going to be touristy?
(03:36):
Is it going to be lame?
Is it going to be, you know,super family friendly, like
friendly, like I want somethingthat that educates me and gets
my heart pumping.
And I was like, okay, we'regoing to figure out if this is
lame within about two seconds.
Yes, and they crammed us intothis elevator shaft literally
like sardines If you'reclaustrophobic, this is a no-go
(03:57):
for you.
Yeah, this part.
And they literally raised usabout 10 feet, eight feet off
the ground and lowered us downand I knew I was like, nope,
this is cool.
Yeah, I was surprised at howlittle I knew about gold mining,
because this isn't a nuggetmine, it's a vein.
It just fascinates me that youdidn't just go in there and see
(04:18):
gold.
Oh, my gosh, there's gold onthe ceiling.
That's what you see in themovies.
Yes, it was this dark vein thatjust looks like dirt, but when
you heat it up, mix it withchemicals, something I can't
remember what it is, butactually it's iron pyrite.
It's like fool's gold is one ofthe things that you can mix it
with.
So they found a lot of ironpyrite and it adhered to the
(04:39):
actual gold and then they woulddo all these chemical processes
and be left with the gold.
But I'm really surprisedbecause I think the founder of
gold in cripple creek discoveredit and he couldn't get anybody
to believe him.
Yeah, he was like, oh well, Iwouldn't believe him because I
was really excited because itadvertises it and it says you
get to see a vein of gold in theearth and I was like, how cool,
(05:01):
I want to see a vein of gold,of solid gold.
And then we looked at it and Iwas like I would pass that on a
hike absolutely not.
No, and I mean it literallyjust looked like a deep purple
stripe, yeah, and everyonethought he was crazy.
So kudos to you for figuringthat out.
So it took us through every stepof how to mine gold, complete
(05:25):
with how they placed thedynamites and how they drilled
the holes and how they had to bedrilled in a specific way to
not kill everybody down thereand to maximize the effect of
trying to find the next goldvein.
And when they turned on thesemachines they were so loud.
They were so loud and it waskind of cool because it was like
(05:46):
they took you in chronologicalorder.
So it started out and theyactually have some really creepy
wax figures down there which Ilet me just say I would not want
to be down there alone.
Oh yeah, it was a little creepy.
It was a little creepy Ghosttour and mind tour, but it was.
It was so interesting becauseyou got to see a again the
candlelight on what they wereworking with and then how they
would just put it in and thenjust start pounding that and you
(06:10):
got to see all their tools.
And then you heard about all ofthe jobs and how much they paid.
Like the mucker yes, like themucker the like he would just
shovel rocks and get everythinginto there and he got paid what?
Like three dollars a day, orthat was a high, less.
That was a job.
Everybody wanted that job, yeah, and if he couldn't do it, then
you're out.
Like if he couldn't muck fastenough, then that was it.
(06:33):
And there is a famous boxeryeah, jack dem.
Jack Dempsey actually triedmucking and didn't and got fired
.
He sucked at mucking, he suckedat the muck.
I'm a suck mucker, I muck and Isuck.
We're having way too much funhere.
Apparently he was terrible atthis and then decided he'd do
(06:54):
boxing instead.
Talk about a career change.
Good for him, yeah, good forhim.
So then they started goingthrough again where to place the
dynamite and all of the drillsthat they would use, and these
are still working.
I was actually very surprised athow much this tour felt like
caving.
Surprisingly, yes, yeah, likethere was a lot of minerals, a
lot of things in there copper,sulfur and we actually got to
(07:16):
look at everything.
Yeah, and I guess that theintricacy and the miles and
miles and miles of cavesunderneath Cripple Creek.
We were talking to a couplelocals and they used to go from
town to town underneath theearth in these caves.
Yeah, our guide was joking thatthey probably have an entire
mining system all the way to hisschool, but he just wouldn't
(07:38):
know how to get there becauseit's so intricate.
Oh, yeah, and so there's justthousands and thousands of
tunnels.
And they also used to say howthey would, uh, pay children to
come in and bring the muckers.
I don't think it was themuckers, it was.
It was a guy who would climb upI forgot the name of it but he
would climb all the way up tothe top.
He got paid the most like $3.
(08:00):
$3 or $4.
Because it was so dangerousbeing up there.
And again, that wax figure wasso far away that it kind of
looked real.
So he shined his light up thereand I went why is that dude up
there?
They also have a wax figure ofsome guy in the outhouse in the
mine, which is a little gross.
Kind of made me want to try outthe outhouse, but no, it
wouldn't help.
(08:20):
Well, also, halfway through yougot to go on this little train
thing through the mine.
So that was really cool.
I've just, it was so impressive.
I've just.
I've just, I don't know why itwas just so cool.
I don't know why I was like, oh, we're going to go tour a mine,
no, it was, it was reallyadventurous, it was just so cool
.
I don't know why I was like, oh, we're gonna go tour a mine.
No, it was, it was reallyadventurous.
It was very informative and Ifelt like I learned a lot about
(08:43):
the mining culture back then andhow they actually used to mine,
and seeing these machines inaction it was like history come
to life.
Well, and they also had symbolsor signals that they're still
being used today.
There was this chart of thesignals that the miners would
use to communicate everything,and it became so popular that I
(09:07):
think it's still used all overthe world.
Yeah, because it was somethinglike they would have so many
incidents and if you think abouthow big these mining things are
and they're blowing things up,they're cartinging gear, there
are so many unknown dangers inthese mines that they just had
accidents all the time, and youcan totally see why they would.
So they came up with thissystem and it's kind of like
(09:27):
morse code for miners, yeah, sowhere they'd have this little
bell at the top of the shaft andthey'd be like, um, this is not
accurate, but they'd be like,okay, two bells, two bells, stop
.
Three bells means golden shaftwith man or you know.
So they would say who wascoming up, or slow or fast,
because it's just gold.
So three bells and then like itwas really cool and again we
(09:50):
got to see that in action too,and that's a practice that their
accidents basically reduced tozero at that point and then they
just started using itinternationally because it was
such a good system and nobodydied from miscommunication
anymore.
Wouldn't you just love to bethat guy that invented it?
And if he could know now thatwhat he came up with would go
(10:10):
worldwide.
That would be so impressive.
And he probably died before Iever found that out.
But dude, you rock, I know, andit's so interesting how
dangerous those were.
I mean, they were talking aboutthis, this drill, how they
would ever found that out.
But, dude, you rock, I know,and it's so interesting how
dangerous those oh were.
I mean, they were talking aboutthis, this drill, how they
would.
They would drill and then allof the fragments of rocks and
the dust would all go into theirlungs and they would all pass
away.
And but then they startedmaking technological
(10:32):
advancements to help this andsee it's very interesting to see
the evolution the evolution andsafety evolution of a gold mine
.
So really, really interesting.
And also in this tour you get totake a little piece of gold,
yeah, with you.
It was really cool.
There was this little sectionthat it was kind of like a
museum but it kind of felt likeyou were in a cave, so it was a
(10:54):
little interesting.
And then the gift shop at theend of it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, you have tohave the gift shop at the end of
it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you haveto have the gift shop at the end
of the tour.
Except this one, it's actuallyincluded in your ticket price
you get to take.
So if you do have families, Iwould definitely recommend this
for more adventurous families.
I think it might scare likeyoung, young children.
Maybe it was pretty loud,unless they're super into mining
, you know, like they're like Ijust want, but it's only because
(11:16):
it's loud.
Yeah, it's loud and thebeginning is a little
claustrophobic, a little bit,but yeah, I think I thought it
was absolutely amazing.
So let's talk logistics, sothat you can also check this off
of your bucket list Best timesto visit.
(11:37):
What we figured out is thatCripple Creek is actually an
average of 10 to 15 degreescooler than Canyon City in
Colorado Springs can definitelyconfirm this, because we
actually went from Cripple Creek, as we're staying in an RV park
.
We went from Cripple Creek toColorado Springs and it was
seriously what 70, maybe 80 atthe most that we saw in Cripple
Creek, but in Colorado Springsit was 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
(11:58):
Cripple Creek was just fun.
We only stopped there becauseit was right in the middle of
point A and point B and we justloved it.
So Cripple Creek, the train,the food, the gambling, the
rafting.
It was just really fun.
Yes, I do have an entireCripple Creek bucket list, as
per usual, if you do want tocheck it out.
(12:19):
In the show notes today, sayingeverything that we kind of
killed Cripple Creek, I'm notgonna lie, we did everything.
So I'm definitely going to besharing more info on that,
including more info about theMolly Kathleen mine.
But, yeah, I think summer is agood way to go here.
It's cool and also theunderground temperature sits
around 50 to 55 degrees all thetime, so it really doesn't
(12:40):
matter when you do the mine.
Yeah, yeah, you're not going tofreeze more, yeah, but I think
summer would be perfect becauseyou could go in there.
It's so nice and cool.
It would be like such a niceescape from the heat.
So, definitely, I would go withsummer, and it's also important
to note that it is only openMay through the second week to
(13:01):
October, so it is not open allyear round.
What to expect?
We kind of talked about it.
You will descend a thousandfeet underneath the ground and,
yeah, it's deeper than youraverage skyscraper and the
Eiffel Tower, so I woulddefinitely wear sturdy shoes, um
, because some of the ground isa little bit uneven in dirt.
(13:22):
As I said, it looks like a cave, so be prepared to wander
around a cave.
Yeah, they didn't tourist it upat all, oh no, it's very
authentic.
It is very authentic, which iswhy I liked it.
Yeah, me too, yeah.
And then also, just because itis 50 to 55 degrees, bring a
jacket.
I personally, I was fine, lovedit.
I was just wandering around ina t-shirt and I thought it was
(13:44):
great.
What about the descent?
Let's talk about it.
It is slightly claustrophobic.
You are packed in there prettytightly.
This is true.
You got to really love yourneighbor, your elevator partner.
Yep, the tour itself isn'tclaustrophobic.
Even though you're in a cave,it's not like you're spelunking.
I think if you had extremeclaustrophobia, I probably
wouldn't do it.
No gosh, if you had any kind ofclaustrophobia, don't do it.
(14:06):
Yeah, but I think generally, Ithink you would be just fine.
I mean, there were children onour tour, yeah, and it was well
lit, and you don't.
All the ceilings are normalheight and actually I did find
out that the reason why they'renot spelunking down there is
because they had to get all theequipment in and out through
there, so that's why thepassages are so large.
So there you go.
(14:28):
The elevator does take about twominutes, or the shaft, is that
I mean?
Is it even called an elevator?
The mine shaft?
It takes about two minutes.
Or the shaft, is that I mean?
Is it even called an elevator?
The mine shaft?
It takes about two minutes andit's about 500 feet per second,
which is about five miles anhour, which sounds quick, but
did you know that the modernelevators actually go around 23
miles an hour really?
However, you don't feel likeyou're going 23 miles an hour in
(14:49):
an elevator, but that felt fastto me.
Interesting, did it feel fastto you?
Yeah, I think the only elevatorthat I think seems fast is the
one at universal studios, thetwilight terror.
Okay, but it's not, that'smeant to be fast.
The tower of terror, yeah, thetwilight zone ride, yeah, the
one that's purposefully supposedto drop you, yeah, that
probably is the fastest elevatoryou've ever been on.
(15:11):
It's true, good job.
It's true, good job.
Now, talking about the walkingtour, let's just talk about the
difficulty.
Super easy, easy.
Yeah, I think it's easy.
It's pretty much flat and youonly have to walk about a
quarter of a mile.
You take a train, the it'sactually called a tram, air
locomotive.
That's where we saw the guy inthe outhouse, I mean.
(15:31):
But if you are handicapped,really isn't no, I unfortunately
it is not ada accessible justbecause it is a mine and it's
not, you know, like cave of thewinds.
If you've ever been to cave ofthe winds in colorado springs
like that's very touristy andit's made for to be accessible
to people.
(15:52):
This, this, is not like that.
This is a authentic verticalmine shaft where you go down
there and it looks pretty muchexactly how it was.
I think they have some railingsthat are down there, but it
feels pretty much like you'restepping back into the old
mining towns, which again makesit worth it, for me for sure.
(16:12):
They just walk you around, showyou everything, show you the
veins, give you a little bit ofgold, talk about the history of
it.
Remind you that it's not reallyfun to be a mucker.
Don't be a mucker.
I'm so glad that I'm not amucker.
I would not be good.
I'd get fired as a mucker.
I'm terrible as a mucker.
Yeah, I just.
(16:37):
This entire town feels likeyou're stepping back in time.
So I would 100% recommend thisto history buffs, people who
just love learning about things,families who enjoy maybe some
history with a little bit of anadventurous spark.
Yeah, I absolutely love it.
Just, the mine attractstourists from all over and it
just preserves history and Ilove that.
(16:59):
If you are there, yeah,definitely go into Cripple Creek
.
Check out that bucket list.
The whole thing just feels likeit was charming, just charming,
and you just got a bunch ofcasinos.
We were joking that CrippleCreek felt like Estes Park had a
baby with Las Vegas and outpopped a cowboy, so quirky and
(17:21):
weird.
Well, adventurers, it's time towrap up our little gold mining
expedition.
The Molly Kathleen mine is justan experience.
It's an experience, yes, andit's just a chance to connect
with history, nature.
So, yeah, definitely add thislittle hidden gem to your bucket
list and don't forget to tunein next week as we explore yet
another captivating corner ofthe world.
(17:43):
And until then, just keepwandering and keep adventuring.
Happy travels, yeah, and do notfart in the elevator on the way
down, just saying Thank youguys.
See you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.